OUR  HERO 


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l.-CEN-ER-AL  GRANT  ON  THE  WAY  TO  C1T-Y  POINT  AF-TER  THE 
SUR-REN-DER  OF  LEE. 


OUR    HERO 


GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 


WHEN,  WHERE, 

AN  D 

HOW  HE  FOUGHT. 


IN   WORDS   OF  ONE  SYLLABLE, 

BY 

JOSEPHINE      POLLARD. 

WITH 

EIGHTY -SIX    ETCHINGS, 

BY    EDWIN    FORBES 


NEW     YORK: 

MCLOUGHLIN    BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS. 


A    WORD    TO    THE   SMALL   BOY. 


This  is  a  book  for  boys  ; — small  boys,  from  six  to 
twelve  years  of  age,  who  love  to  read,  or  to  be  read 
to,  from  books  that  are  not  chock  full  of  great  big 
words.  Lt  is  not  a  book  for  girls  at  all.  They  will 
not  care  for  it.  The  big  boy,  who  docs  not  have  to  stop 
to  spell  out  the  long  words  and  guess  what  they  mean, 
will  turn  up  his  nose  at  it.  But  let  him.  That  will 
not  hurt  us.  Lt  is  the  small  boy  we  have  set  out  to 
please,  and  if  he  reads  zvhat  is  here  told  of  U.  S. 
Grant  he  will — when  he  grows  up — seek  to  knoiv  more 
of  this  great  and  good  man,  to  whom  we,  of  the  U-ni- 
ted  States,  owe  so  much. 

If  this  book  should  teach  the  least  one  of  the 
small  boys  to  fear  God — to  do  right — to  speak  the  truth 
— to  love  peace — and  to  be  brave  and  true  through  and 
through — it  will  have  done  all  and  more  than  was 
hoped  por  by 

THE  AUTLLOR. 


CON  TENTS 


Chapter  I.  AS  A  BOY 5 

Chatter  II.  AT  WEST  POINT 9 

Chapter  III.  ON  THE  WAR  PATH 14 

Chapter  IV.  FORT  HENRY  AND  FORT  DONELSON       .         .         .  21 

Chapter  V.  TWO  DAYS  OF  BLOOD             30 

Chapter  VI.  THE  SIEGE  OF  CORINTH 38 

Chapter  VII.  THE  SIEGE  OF  VICKSBURG 44 

Chapter  VIII.  AT  CHATTANOOGA .  58 

Chapter  IX.  THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS  ~c 

Chapter  X.  BY  THE  LEFT  FLANK 78 

Chapter  XI.  THE  SIEGE  OF  PETERSBURG 92 

Chapter  XII.  THE  MARCH  TO  THE  SEA            in 

Chapter  XIII.  THE  FIGHT  AT  CEDAR  CREEK 119 

Chapter  XIV.  THE  FIGHT  AT  FIVE  FORKS 128 

Chapter  XV.  ON  TO  RICHMOND 144 

Chapter  XVI.  "  LET  US  HAVE  PEACE  " 152 

Chapter  XVII.  THE  LAST  FIGHT  OF  ALL            164 


FULL   PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


I.  GENERAL  GRANT  ON  THE  WAY  TO  CITY  POINT  AFTER 

THE  SURRENDER  OF  LEE. 

II.  BATTLE  OF  BELMONT. 

III.  THE  ATTACK  ON  FORT  DONELSON. 

IV.  BATTLE  OF  SHILOH. 

V.  BATTLE  OF  CHAMPION'S  HILL. 

VI.  THE  SIEGE  OF  VICKSBURG.     THE  CRATER. 

VII.  BATTLE  AMONG  THE  CLOUDS— LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN. 

VIII.  BATTLE  OF  THE  WILDERNESS. 

IX.  BATTLE  OF  SPOTTSYLVANIA  COURT-HOUSE. 

X.  CHARGE  AT  COLD  HARBOR. 

XI.  CHARGE  ON  THE  EXPLODED  MINE  AT  PETERSBURG. 
NIL  Till':  CAVALRY  CHARGE  AT   FISHER'S  HILL. 

XIII.  THE  REPEL  ARMY  RETREATING  FROM  RICHMOND. 

XIV.  THE  MEETIXG  OF  GEXERALS  GRAXT  AND  LEE. 

XV.  GENERAL  LEE'S  ARMY  AFTER  THE  SURRENDER. 


OUR  HERO 

GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 


CHAPTER    I. 

AS      A      BOY. 

"\A/"E  all  like  to  read,  or  to  hear,  of  the  great  men 
of  the  ao^e,  to  know  how  and  where  they  lived, 
what  kind  of  boys  they  were,  and  how  they  rose  to 
their  high  place,  and  won  their  fame. 

U-lys-ses  S.  Grant  was  a  poor  boy.  He  was  born  at 
Point  Pleas-ant,  O-hi-o,  on  the  2.7th  day  of  A-pril,  1822. 
He  was  not  as  bright  and  smart  as  some  boys  are,  but 
was  thought  to  be  quite  dull  and  slow  at  school,  and 
more  fond  of  a  horse  than  he  was  of  a  book.  If  there 
was  a  wild  rough  horse  that  no  one  would  dare  to 
mount,  U-lys-ses  would  leap  on  its  back  and  ride  off 
with  no  thought  of  fear. 

A  man  whose  farm  was  not  far  from  the  Grants,  had 
a  horse  that  he  could  not  train.  He  had  seen .  U-lys-ses 
break  in  more  than  one  wild  colt,  and  he  thought  it 
would  be  a  good  plan  to  get  him  to  try  his  hand  on  this 


01 R  HERO :— GENERAL   V.    S.    GRANT. 


one.  But  U-lys-ses  was  too  proud  to  do  this  kind  of 
work  for  hire.  The  man  knew  that ;  so  he  came  up 
one  day  as  if  in  great  haste,  and  said  to  the  ten  year  old 
boy,  "  I  wish  you  would  take  this  note  from  me  to  a 
man  in  the  next  town.  I  have  no  time  to  go,  as  there 
is  work  to  be  done  on  the  farm,  but  if  you  will  go  I  will 
pay  you  well.  My  horse  is  swift,  and  will  take  you 
there  and  bring  you  back  in  no  time." 

U-lys-ses  said  "  I  will  go."  He  was  in  need  of  cash, 
and  this  was  a  good  chance  to  earn  some.  So  up  he 
got  on  the  horse,  took  the  reins  in  his  hands,  and  just 
as  he  set  off  the  man  cried  out  to  him,  as  if  he  had  just 

thought  of  it,  when 
it  had  been  on  his 
mind  all  the  while — 
"I  want  you  to  teach 
that  horse  how  to 
pace." 

It  was  a  hard  task, 
and  U-lys-ses  had  a 
fight  with  the  horse 
all  the  way  to  town 
and  part  of  the  way 

BREAK-ING     THE      HORSE.  DaCK.  JW.  laSt  tllC 


OUR  HERO:— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAXT. 


horse  gave  in  and  made  up  his  mind  to  change  his  gait 
to  please  the  small  boy  on  his  back,  who  stuck  like  a 
bur,  and  was  not  to  be  thrown  off,  though  the  horse 
tried  his  best  to  get  rid  of  him. 

Of  course,  the  man  who  owned  the  horse  was  much 
pleased,  but  it  was  not  long  ere  U-lys-ses  found  out  that 
the  whole  thing-  was  a  trick  to  get  him  to  break  in  the 
horse,  and  he  did  not  like  it  at  all.  He  thought  the 
man  should  have  told  him  the  truth,  for  a  boy  who  is 
fond  of  the  truth  does  not  like  to  have  a  lie  told,  or  to 
be  made  a  fool  or  a  tool  of  in  this  way.  Though  he 
was  well  paid  for  what  he  did,  he  made  up  his  mind 
that  he  would  do  no  more  of  that  kind  of  work,  which 
was  much  too  low  to  suit  his  taste. 

I  -lvs-ses  was  quite  small  for  his  age,  but  did  not  like 
to  drive  the  small  team  in  use  on  the  farm.  He  was 
fond  of  a  big  horse,  and  when  Dan  was  bought  as  a 
mate  to  the  one  on  the  place,  U-lys-ses  was  in  high  glee. 
When  eight  years  old  he  could  hitch  up  the  team  and 
drive  off  as  well  as  a  man,  and  when  twelve  years  old 
would  haul  great  logs  and  load  up  the  cart  with  no  one 
to  help  him  but  Dan. 

The  boy  would  fix  a  chain  round  a  log  and  get  Dan 
to  pull   it  up  near  the  cart,   and  with   a  haul    here  and  a 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


pull  there  would  work  it  in  place,  and  think  it  no  great 
thing-  to  do. 

The  boy,  you  see,  had  a  wise  head,  and  knew  how 
to  plan  his  work,  and  how  to  pull  through  a  tight  place, 
and  these  traits  grew  strong  day  by  day  and  made  him 
the  brave  calm  man  he  grew  to  be. 

But  I  must  tell  you  how  he  came  to  be  known  as 
U-lys-ses  S.  Grant,  when  that  was  not  his  right  name  at 
all.  His  real  name  was  Hi-ram  U-lys-ses,  but  when  the 
boys  at  school  gave  him  the  nick-name  of  "Hug",  he 
thought  it  was  time  to  change  it.  So  he  wrote  his  name 
U-lys-ses  H.  Grant. 

A  friend  who  had  a  chance  to  send  a  boy  to  West 
Point,  thought  that  U-lys-ses  would  be  glad  to  go  and 
would  be  the  right  boy  for  the  place.  He  knew  that 
one  of  the  Grant  boys  had  Simp-son  as  part  of  his 
name,  and  so  he  wrote  to  West  Point  that  the  boy  he 
sent  bore  the  name  of  U-lys-ses  Simp-son  Grant,  and 
when  Grant  found  this  out  he  let  it  go.  It  was  a  good 
thing,  and,  I  have  no  doubt,  part  of  a  wise  plan,  for 
these  things  do  not  take  place  by  chance.  H.  U.  Grant, 
or  U.  H.  Grant,  would  not  have  been  so  strong  as  U.  S. 
Grant,  which  seems  to  bring  him  near  to  us  and  to  the 
land  for  which  he  fought. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


Most  of  those  who  go  to  West  Point  have  a  taste  for 
war,  but  Grant  was  more  fond  of  peace,  and  did  not 
care  to  £0  to  this  kind  of  a  school.  But  it  was  thought 
best  that  he  should.  The  young  men  there  soon  gave 
him  the  nick-name  of  "Un-cle  Sam,"  and  this  stuck  to 
him  all  through  the  rest  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER    II. 


AT     WEST     POINT. 


It  was  in  the  year  1839  that  Grant  went  to  West 
Point,  and  not  much  is  told  of  his  life  at  that  place. 
West  Point  is  a  school  where  the  drill  is  the  same  year 
in  and  year  out,  and  where  young  men  are  sent  from  all 
parts  of  the  U-m-ted  States,  to  learn  the  art  of  war. 

U-lys-ses  did  not  need  to  be  taught,  as  some  of  the 
boys  did,  how  to  mount  or  to  ride  a  horse.  He  knew 
all  that.  He  made  friends  while  there  who  were  warm 
friends  till  the  day  of  his  death,  who  knew  that  he 
tried  to  do  what  was  right,  was  just,  and  true,  and  had 
a  clean  head  and  a  pure  mind.  He  did  not  talk 
much,  but  was  as  fond  of  fun  as  most  boys  are.  But 
it   had    to   be   the   riefht   kind   of    fun   or  he   would   take 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


no  part  in  it.  He  did  not 
swear,  and  had  no  taste 
for  coarse  jokes;  which  is 
more  than  can  be  said  of 
most  men.  Boys  are  apt 
to  think  it  a  fine  thing  to 
swear;  and  men  laugh  when 
they  hear  them  speak  "  the 
big  round  oath,"  which  they 
so  soon  learn  to  use  in  their 
talk,  and  find  so  hard  to 
get  rid  of. 

This  one  thing  shows 
how  brave  Grant  was  at  this 
time,  and  how  firm  to  stick  to  what  he  thought  was  the 
rio-ht  course.  He  had  set  out  to  be  a  orood  man,  and  a 
clean  man,  and  God  gave  him  strength  to  turn  from  all 
that  was  bad,  and  to  live  so  that  he  would  not  have  to 
blush  with  shame  for  his  past  deeds.  He  could  not 
have  known  then  how  high  he  was  to  stand  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world,  how  each  act  ol  his  life  would  be  brought 
out  and  held  up  to  view  in  the  clear  light  ol  fame. 

No  boy  knows  just  where  he  will  stand  when  he  is  a 
man.      He  may  plot  and   plan  all  his  young  days,  and 


GRANT    AS    A    CA-DET. 


OCR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


try  his  best  to  win  the  prize  of  fame,  but  all  his  plans 
may  tall  through,  all  his  deep  laid  schemes  may  come 
to  nought.  Those  who  lead  the  race  for  a  while  may 
not  have  the  luck  to  reach  the  goal.  The  best  way  is 
to  do  riorht  all  the  time,  and  to  live  so  as  to  earn  a  o-ood 
name,  and  to  be  known  as  a  good  man,  if  it  is  not  your 
late  to  be  known  as  a  great  one. 

Grant  stood  well  in  his  class  at  West  Point,  and  at 
the  end  of  the  four  years'  course  was  sent  to  join  the 
troops  with  Gen-er-al  Zach-a-ry  Tay-lor,  who  was  then 
in  Tex-as.     This  was  in  the  year  1843. 

War  with  Mex-i-co  broke  out  in  1846,  and  Grant 
took  part  in  the  fight  at  Pa-lo  Al-to,  Re-sa-ca  de  la  Pal- 
ma,  Cer-ro  Gor-do,  Chur-u-bus-co,  Mo-li-no  del  Re}', 
and  Cha-pul-te-pec,  and  went  on  with  the  troops  that 
fought  their  way  to  the  Cit-y  of  Mex-i-co,  which  they 
took  by  storm,  in  the  year  1847. 

I  hope  you  have  a  map  to  look  at  as  you  read  these 
queer  names,  and  will  trace  out  the  route  the  troops 
took  in  their  march  from  the  camp  at  Cor-pus  Chns-ti 
to  the  place  where  San-ta  An-na  laid  down  his  sword. 

Grant  went  up  a  step  or  two  in  rank  for  his  brave 
deeds  at  Mo-li-no  del  Rev  and  Cha-pul-te-pec,  but  his 
fame  did  not  reach  far. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.    GRAXT. 


He  took  a  wife  in  the  year  1848,  and  in  1854  made 
up  his  mind  that  he  would  war  no  more.  He  went  to 
live  on  a  farm  of  his  own  near  St.  Lou-is.  Here  he 
built  his  own  house  of  hewn  logs,  did  his  own  work, 
and  led  a  life  of  peace.  He  was  a  poor  man  and  could 
not  hire  help  to  do  the  work,  and  no  doubt  had  a  hard 
time,  for  it  was  a  great  change  to  lay  down  the  gun  and 
the  sword,  and  turn  from  the  field  of  strife,  to  take  up 
the  plough  and  the  hoe  and  go  to  work  in  a  hay-field  or 
corn-patch. 

So  in  i860  Grant  left  his  farm,  and  went  to  live  at 
Ga-le-na,  in  the  State  of  Il-li-nois.  He  was  clerk  in  a 
store  where  hides  were  sold,  and  it  is  said  that  he  was  a 
ofood  sales-man.  Here  he  was  when  the  war  broke  out 
in  the  U-ni-ted  States,  and  the  South  and  North,  which 
had  been  as  one,  were  two,  and  full  of  fierce  hate. 

For  a  long  time  in  the  South  there  had  been  a  spark 
of  hate,  which  did  not  burst  out  in  a  blaze  till  the  13th 
of  A-pril,  1 86 1,  when  an  attack  was  made  on  Fort 
Sum-ter.  The  news  spread  like  wild-fire.  Men  were 
quick  to  take  sides.  Some  fought  to  save  the  dear 
old  flag,  and  some  fought  to  pull  it  down,  and  rend 
it  in   two. 


OCR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


BOM-BARD-MEXT    OF    FORT    SVM-TER. 


Jeff-er-son  Da-vis  led  the  South.  A-bra-ham  Lin- 
coln, our  chief,  stoqd  by  the  flag  of  the  free — true, 
firm,  brave,  and  good — and  to  him  the  whole  North 
looked  with  faith  that  he  would  do  the  best  he  could 
for   their   cause. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.  S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER    III. 


ON      THE      WAR-PATH 


Lin-coln's  call  for  troops  was  made  on  the  15  th  of 
A-pril,  1 86 1.  On  the  19th  Grant  went  to  work  to 
drill  a  few  of  his  towns-men  in  the  use  of  the  gain, 
and   in  a  few  days  set  off  with   them  to  Spring-field. 

From  there  he  wrote  to  one  of  the  chief  men  at 
Wash-ing-ton  that  he  would  like  to  be  made  use  of. 
He  did  not  care  where  he  was  sent,  or  what  rank  he 
took,  so  long  as  he  could  use  his  skill  and  help  to  save 
the  land  from  the  foes  that  sought  to  take  its  life. 

No  word  came  back  to  him,  so  he  staid  at  Spring-field 
to  drill  the  troops  that  came  in  from  all  parts  of  the 
State.  At  the  end  of  five  weeks  Cap-tain  Grant  was 
made  Col-o-nel  Grant  and  sent  off  to  the  seat  of  war  at 
the  head  of  a  band  of  troops  known  as  the  Twen-ty 
First  Ill-i-nois. 

The  Mis-sis-sip-pi  Riv-er  is  full  of  queer  turns  and 
crooks,  and  at  points  here  and  there  the  men  of  the 
South  made  haste  to  set  up  forts  and  to  fix  troops  to 
keep  the  North  at  bay.      Ma-jor  Gen-er-al  Fre-mont  had 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  V.   S.    GRANT. 


15 


charge  of  all  the  troops  in  the  far  West,  and  in  Sep-tem- 
ber,  1 86 1,  he  sent  Grant  to  Cai-ro,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
O-hi-o,  which  was  a  strong  point  to  guard.  As  soon 
as  Grant  reached  Cai-ro  he  heard  that  Gen-er-al  Polk, 
who  had  seized  Go-lum-bus  and  Hick-man,  on  the  Mis- 
sis-sip-pi, was  on  the  way  to  Pa-du-cah,  which  he  meant 
to  take. 

Fre-mont  was  at  St.  Lou-is.  Grant  sent  word  to  him 
that  he  would  start  for  Pa-du-cah  at  haf-past  six.  He 
had  to  wait,  for  if  Fre-mont  said  Grant  must  not  go,  he 
would  have  to  stay  where  he  was.  No  word  came  back 
on  the  wires,  and  so  at  half-past  ten  at  night,  on  the  5th 
of  Sep-tem-ber,  he  set  out  with  two  reg-i-ments  and  two 
gun-boats,  and  was  at  Pa-du-cah  by  half-past  eight  the 
next  morn. 

The  men  of  the  South,  who  were  in  gray,  ran  off,  while 
the  men  in  blue,  led  by  Grant,  made  their  way  to  the 
shore.  Not  a  gun  was  fired.  Grant  took  Pa-du-cah 
and  all  the  flags  and  stores  that  were  found  in  the  place, 
and  by  this  move  kept  the  O-hi-o  safe  from  the  clutch 
of  the  foe. 

At  noon  Grant  went  back  to  Cai-ro,  and  found  there 
the  word  from  Fre-mont  for  which  he  had  not  thought 
it    best  to   wait.      Fre-mont  said   he   might  take   Pa-du- 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


cah  "  if  he  had  the  strength" — that  meant  if  he  thought 
he  had  the  men  he  would  need  for  the  fight  there  was 
no  doubt  would  take  place.  Grant  went  at  just  the 
right  time,  and  though  some  took  him  to  task  and 
thought  he  had  not  gone  to  work  in  the  right  way,  the 
gain  was  so  great  that  all  else  was  soon  lost  sight  of. 

For  the  next  two  months  Grant  kept  a  close  watch 
on  the  three  great  streams  that  join  in  one  and  find  their 
way  at  last  to  the  Gulf  of  Mex-i-co.  The  men  in  gray 
were  in  great  force  at  Co-lum-bus,  and  Grant  had  to 
move  his  troops  from  Pa-du-cah  so  as  to  get  in  the  rear 
of  the  foe.  He  knew  he  could  take  Co-lum-bus,  and  it 
was  hard  for  a  man  so  quick  to  act  to  wait  for  the  word 
to  move. 

Grant  had  charge  of  a  lot  of  raw  troops,  men  who  had 
been  brought  up  on  farms,  or  had  learned  trades.  None 
of  them  were  skilled  in  the  art  of  war,  and  though  they 
might  know  how  to  shoot  off  a  gun,  and  had  been  in 
bear  hunts,  and  now  and  then  on  the  red  man's  track, 
they  were  as  green  as  they  could  be,  but  full  of  fight. 
On  the  7th  of  No-vem-ber  Grant  moved  his  men  and 
boats  down  to  Hun-ter's  Point,  just  out  of  range  of 
the  Co-lum-bus  guns,  and  led  his  troops  near  Bel-mont, 
which  was  three  miles  off.     At  this  place  the  foe  were 


OUR  HERO.— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  i7 

in  camp,  shut  in  by  great  trees  that  had  been  cut  down 
to  form  a  wall  round  the  white  tents. 

Grant  drew  up  his  troops  in  line,  and  then  sent  out 
the  whole  force,  in  small  bands,  to  fight  the  foe.  Bel- 
mont was  cut  up  with  sloughs  and  swamps,  and  here 
and  there  were  dense  woods,  which  made  it  hard  work 
for  those  who  did  not  know  the  ground.  For  four 
hours  the  fight  was  kept  up,  and  all  this  time  Grant  was 
in  the  midst  of  the  fire.  It  made  the  troops  brave  to 
see  such  brave  men  at  their  head.  They  drove  the  foe, 
foot  to  foot,  through  sloughs  and  fields,  from  tree  to  tree, 
down  to  the  bank  of  the  broad  stream,  back  through 
the  breast-works,  seized  a  large  force  of  men,  and  all 
the  guns,  and  broke  up  the  camp. 

Grant's  troops  were  so  wild  with  joy  that  they  did  all 
sorts  of  queer  things,  and  were  like  such  a  lot  of  school 
boys  that  Grant,  who  saw  that  boats  had  set  out  from 
Co-lum-bus  with  a  large  force  of  men  on  board,  gave 
the  word  to  set  the  camps  on  fire.  This  drew  on  them 
a  fire  of  oains  from  Co-lum-bus,  which  brought  the  men 
back  to  the  ranks  in  great  haste,  and  they  took  up  their 
line  of  march  to  the  boats. 

In  the  mean-time  the  men  in  gray,  whom  the  men  in 
blue  had  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  watch,  had  crept 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


down  to  the  shore  and  were  hid  from  sight  by  the 
high  banks.  Here,  and  in  the  woods  close  at  hand, 
they  met  in  small  groups  and  made  new  plans.  Fresh 
troops  were  sent  to  their  aid  from  Co-lum-bus,  and  they 
took  up  their  line  of  march  in  such  a  way  that  they 
were  soon  in  front,  in  rear,  and  on  all  sides  of  Grant's 
men.  It  was  a  sad  plight.  Brave  though  they  were, 
they  did  not  see  how  they  could  get  out  of  this  trap  in 
which  they  had  been  caught,  and  they  thought  there 
was  but  one  thing  to  do,  and  that  was  to  lay  down  their 
arms.  But  that  was  not  Grant's  way.  One  of  his 
staff,  to  whom  war  was  a  new  thing,  rode  up  and  with 
a  pale  face  told  of  the  fix  they  were  in.  "IVell?  said 
Grant,  "if  that  is  so,  we  must  cut  our  way  out  as  we  cut 
our  way  in" 

As  soon  as  the  troops  found  out  that  Grant  meant  to 
fight,  they  went  to  work  with  a  will  and  soon  drove  the 
foe  from  the  field,  and  then  fled  in  great  haste  to  their 
gun-boats.  They  thought  this  was  the  right  thing  to 
do,  but  it  was  not.  And  where  do  you  think  they  left 
Grant?  Why  just  near  the  corn-field  where  the  Rebs 
were  drawn  up  in  line  to  fire  on  the  gun-boats.  He 
rode  up  on  a  knoll,  and  made  a  fine  mark  for  the  foe, 
who  would  have  shot  him  down  at  once  had  they  known 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


'■9 


who  he  was.  As  the  day  was  cool  Grant  had  put  on 
the  coat  of  one  of  his  men,  which  hid  his  rank,  and  as 
he  sat  there  on  his  horse  he  saw  that  it  was  no  use  to 
trv  to  save  his  men  who  were  out  in  search  of  those 
who  had  met  with  wounds  in  the  fight,  and  that  he 
would  have  a  hard  time  to  make  his  own  way  back  to 
the  gun-boats — which  he  might  not  reach. 


i  jt 


THE    ES-CAPE    OF    GRANT    TO    THE    BOAT. 


He  set  out  at  a  slow  pace  so  that  the  Rebs  would  not 
turn  their  fire  on  him,  but  as  he  drew  near  where  his 
troops  were  he  put  spurs  to  his  horse  which  slid  down 
the  bank,  and  was  just  in  time  to  see  his  boats  push 
off  from  the  shore.      He  rode  up  as  fast  as  he  could,  a 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


plank  was  put  out  for  him,  and  he  went  on  board  through 
a  storm  of  shot. 

Then  the  fire  was  kept  up  from  the  gun-boats  till  the 
last  one  was  out  of  range,  and  there  was  no  gain  to  the 
North  or  South. 

Grant  lost  485  men.      Polk  642. 

It  was  the  first  fight  in  which  Grant  took  the  lead. 

A  Mao-  of  truce  is  a  white  fla^:  a  sign  that  the  fiVht 
is  at  an  end,  and  that  peace  reigns  for  a  while. 

The  next  day,  Grant  went  out  with  a  flag  of  truce 
and  met  one  of  his  old  West  Point  friends,  who  was  on 
Gen-er-al  Polk's  staff.  Grant  told  him  how  he  rode 
out  and  met  the  foe. 

"Was  that  you?"  he  said.  "We  saw  you,  and  Gen- 
er-al  Polk  called  to  some  of  his  troops:  "  Here,  men,  is 
a  Yank,  if  you  want  to  try  your  aim ; "  but  all  the 
men  had  their  eyes  on  the  boats  and  not  one  of  them 
fired  at  Grant.  But  for  that  his  first  fight  might  have 
been  his  last  one,  and  we  should  have  heard  no  more 
of  him. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.    S.    GRANT. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

FORT    HEN-RY    AND    FORT    DON-EL-SON. 

Large  fleets  of  gun-boats  were  in  use  in  the  West, 
in  the  first  years  of  the  war,  and  were  sent  up  and  down 
the  streams  with  troops  and  stores.  The  Rebs  were  in 
great  dread  of  them,  and  did  their  best  ro  keep  out  of 
the  range  of  their  big  guns.  They  were  built  so  that 
not  a  man  could  be  seen  on  them,  and  the  shot  and 
shell  that  were  sent  at  them  struck  and  did  no  harm. 

For  two  months  Grant  had  been  kept  in  one  place, 
but  in  Jan-u-a-ry,  1862,  word  was  sent  him  that  he 
might  move  his  troops  to  the  South,  where  it  was 
thought  there  might  be  a  fight.  But  no  fight  took  place. 
The  troops  were  out  for  more  than  a  week,  and  were  in 
great  pain  from  the  cold ;  and  the  storms  of  rain  and 
snow  that  set  in  made  some  of  them  quite  ill. 

There  are  two  great  streams  that  branch  out  from  the 
O-hi-o :  the  Ten-nes-see,  which  runs  south,  and  the 
Cum-bcr-land,  which  runs  both  south  and  east.  At  a 
bend  in  each  of  these  streams  the  men  of  the  South 
had  built  a  strong-hold  to  keep  back  the  men  from  the 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


North.  Fort  Hen-ry  on  the  Ten-nes-see,  and  Fort 
Don-el-son  on  the  Cum-ber-land,  were  like  two  great 
gate-ways  which  Lin-coln's  troops  would  find  hard  to 
pass  through. 

But  one  of  the  men  whom  Grant  sent  out  to  see  how 
the  land  lay  in  West  Ken-tuck-y  took  a  good  look  at 
Fort  Flen-ry  and  sent  back  this  word:  "Two  guns 
would  make  short  work  of  the  fort." 

Grant  at  once  made  this  fact  known  to  his  chief — 
Ma-jor  Gen-er-al  Hal-leck — who  did  not  think  it  worth 
while  to  make  an  at-tack  at  that  point.  But  Grant  felt 
that  the  time  had  come  to  make  a  move,  and  he  could 
not  keep  the  thought  off  his  mind.  Six  days  was  a  long 
time  for  him  to  wait,  so  on  the  28th  of  Jan-u-a-ry  he 
sent  word  to  St.  Lou-is  where  Gen-er-al  Hal-leck  was: 
"  By  your  leave  I  will  take  Fort  Hen-ry  on  the  Ten-nes- 
see,  and  fix  and  hold  a  large  camp  there."  He  was  so 
sure  of  what  he  could  do,  that  he  did  not  say  he  would 
try  to  take  the  fort.  The  whole  plan  was  clear  to  his 
own  mind,  and  he  was  in  haste  to  work  it  out. 

On  the  1st  of  Feb-ru-a-ry  word  came  to  Grant  that 
he  might  move  on  the  fort,  and  on  the  2nd,  he  set  out 
with  a  fleet  of  boats  and  a  large  force  of  men,  and  some 
of  them  went  on   shore  on   the  east  bank,   eight   miles 


OUR  HERO  .—  GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  2.3 

from  Fort  Hen-ry.  To  make  sure  which  was  the  best 
place  to  land,  Grant  went  up  in  one  of  the  gun-boats 
right  in  Iront  of  the  fort,  a  shot  from  which  was  sent 
through  the  boat  he  was  in.  By  this  means  he  found 
out  the  range  of  the  guns,  and  brought  his  troops  up  to 
a  place  three  miles  from  the  fort,  and  just  out  of  reach 
of  fire. 

A  strong  and  well-built  fort  was  Fort  Hen-ry,  with 
twelve  great  guns  on  the  front,  and  five  more  at  the  rear. 
A  large  force  of  men  were  in  camp  en  the  land  side, 
and  on  the  heights  on  the  west  bank  was  a  small  fort, 
known  as  Fort  Hei-man. 

It  was  late  on  the  night  of  the  5th  when  Grant  got 
his  troops  on  shore,  in  a  hard  rain-storm.  A  flood  had 
swept  the  land,  and  the  fort  was  like  an  isle  in  the  midst 
of  a  sea. 

Grant's  first  plan  was  to  seize  Fort  Hei-man  and  Fort 
Hen-ry  at  the  same  time,  but  the  Rebs,  when  they  saw 
what  a  force  of  men  had  been  brought  from  Cai-ro 
made  up  their  minds  that  they  could  not  hold  both 
works,  so  gave  up  Fort  Hei-man  and  put  all  their 
strength  in  Fort  Hen-ry. 

Grant  did  not  know  this,  for  it  was  done  at  night; 
and   on   the  next  day  he  sent  some  of  his  troops  out  to 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


seize  the  heights  on  the  west  bank.  The  rest  were  to 
move  to  the  rear  of  Fort  Hen-ry,  "to  charge  and  take 
the  work  by  storm"  as  soon  as  he  sent  them  word. 

Near  the  hour  of  noon  the  men  took  up  their  march. 
The  gun-boats  set  out  at  the  same  time,  and  were  soon 
in  range  of  the  fort.  A  sharp  fire  was  kept  up  for  an 
hour  and  a  half,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  fort 
was  in  the  hands  of  Grant's  men. 

Grant  had  thought  to  Qret  round  both  forts  and  so 
hem  the  men  in.  But  this  could  not  be  done.  The 
men  on  foot  had  eight  miles  to  march.  They  had  to 
cut  roads  through  the  woods.  Now  and  then  they  had 
to  stop  and  build  a  bridge  so  that  they  could  cross  the 
streams  the  rains  had  made  too  deep  to  ford.  Thus 
they  lost  an  hour  or  two,  and  the  troops  in  charge  of 
the  fort  had  a  chance  to  run  off  to  Fort  Don-el-son. 

Tilgh-man  [till-man\  who  led  the  men  from  the 
South,  staid  with  his  guns  to  the  last,  and  made  a  brave 
fight.     The  loss  on  both  sides  was  small. 

Grant  at  once  sent  word  to  Hal-leck,  "Fort  Hen-ry 
is  ours.  I  shall  take  Fort  Don-el-son  on  the  Sth." 
This  he  could  not  do,  as  the  rains  and  the  floods  were 
so  great;  but  by  the  12th  he  had  his  troops  in  line  of 
march,  and  by  mid-day  they  were  drawn  up  in  front  of 
the  foe. 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  25 

Fort  Hen-ry  was  just  twelve  miles  from  Fort  Don-el- 
son,  which  was  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Cum-ber-land, 
north  of  the  town  of  Do-ver.  It  was  a  strong  fort  at 
the  top  of  a  range  of  hills,  out  of  reach  it  would  seem 
of  the  foe,  should  they  come  by  land  or  by  boat.  There 
were  dense  woods  at  the  back  of  it,  a  deep  gorge  at 
one  side,  and  all  round  the  main  fort  were  great  breast- 
works to  make  it  still  more  safe  and  strong. 

Grant  set  to  work  to  hem  in  Fort  Don-el-son  and  all 
the  troops  it  held,  just  as  he  had  done  at  Fort  Hen-ry. 
No  troops  came  forth  to  stop  his  march,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  13th  he  had  brought  his  men  and  some  of 
the  wheel-guns  up  the  heights  on  a  line  with  the  out- 
works of  the  foe,  and  from  these  points  sent  out  shot 
now  and  then  that  they  might  know  how  near  he  was. 

At  sun-set  of  this  day  no  fresh  troops  had  come  to 
his  aid,  and  there  were  no  gun-boats  in  sight.  The 
night  set  in  so  cold  that  there  was  a  fear  the  troops 
would  all  freeze  to  death.  They  did  not  dare  to  build 
fires.  They  had  no  tents — not  much  to  eat — not  a  thing 
to  wrap  round  them,  and  had  to  be  on  guard  all  night 
with  their  arms  in  their  hands,  for  they  were  in  point- 
blank  range  of  the  guns  of  the  foe.  A  storm  of  snow 
and   hail  set  in,  and  all  night   long  could   be  heard   the 


26 


OUR  HERO  .-GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


groans  of  the  men  who  had  been  shot  by  the  guns  of 
those  who  stood  at  the  out-posts  of  the  fort  to  pick  off 
those  who  came  too  near.  Not  a  few  of  the  men  on 
both  sides  froze  to  death,  if  they  did  not  die  of  their 
wounds. 

By  day-light  on  Fri-day,  the  14th,  the  gun-boats  in 
charge  of  Com-mo-dore  Foote,  came  up  the  Cum-ber- 
land,  and  the  troops  from  Fort  Hen-ry,  led  by  Brig- 
a-dier  Gen-er-al  Lew-is  Wal-lace,  were  at  once  put 
in  line. 

This  day  Grant  had  word  from  his  chief — Ma-jor 
Gen-er-al  Hal-leck — to  keep  a  large  force  at  Fort  Hen-ry, 

where  he  thought 
Grant  and  his  men 
were.  He  did  not 
know  how  much 
push  there  was  in 
this  man,  who  was 
in  haste  to  bring 
the  war  to  an  end. 

At  three  o'clock 
on  Fri-day  the  gun- 
boats made  an  at- 
tack    on     the     fort, 


GUN'-BOATS    AT    FORT    DON-F.L-SON. 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  27 

and  brought  down  a  storm  of  shot  and  shell  that  did 
them  much  harm.  To  add  to  this  a  gun  burst  on  one 
of  the  boats.  Com-mo-dore  Foote  was  hurt  and  sent 
for  Grant  to  come  and  see  him.  The  niQrht  was  cold. 
A  wild  storm  of  snow  and  sleet  set  in.  The  troops 
were  not  used  to  war,  and  it  was  hard  for  them  to  bear 
these  ills. 

By  this  time  the  men  in  the  fort  had  made  up  their 
minds  it  was  time  for  them  to  break  through  the  line 
that  Grant  had  drawn  round  them,  and  at  dawn  of  Sat- 
ur-day—  the  15  th  — while  Grant  was  on  board  the  flag- 
ship, they  came  out  of  their  works  and  made  an  at-tack 
on  the  right  of  the  line  which  was  held  by  McAr-thur 
and  McCler-nand.  The  men  fought  hard  for  hours, 
but  there  were  more  boys  in  gray  than  boys  in  blue, 
and  McAr-thur  had  to  give  way  at  last.  His  loss 
was  great.  McCler-nand  made  out  to  hold  his  place 
till  Lew.  Wal-lace  came  up,  and  made  the  foe  pay  dear 
for  what  they  had  gained. 

As  Grant  left  the  flag-ship  at  nine  o'clock,  he  met  an 
aide  who  rode  up  with  great  speed  to  tell  him  of  the 
fight 

This  was  the  first  Grant  knew  of  it.  He  put  spurs 
to  his  horse,   rode  at  once  to  the  left  where   the  fresh 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


troops  were — those  who  had  not  been  in  the  fight — and 
told  them  to  charge  on  the  works.  He  and  his  staff 
told  the  men  that  the  foe  had  tried  to  cut  their  way  out 
and  did  not  mean  to  stand  a  long  siege.  This  gave  the 
troops  fresh  strength,  and  they  went  straight  to  the  front 
and   "  fought  like  brave  men,  one  and  all." 

Two  of  the  gun-boats  ran  up  the  stream  and  threw 
a  few  shells  at  long  range,  and  all  day  long  a  hot  fire 
was  kept  up.  The  boys  in  blue  at  last  force  their  way 
through  the  lines  and  up  the  steep  hill,  while  the  guns 
from  the  fort  keep  up  the  fire  that  thins  their  ranks. 
They  leap  the  ditch — but  night  comes  on  too  soon  for 
them  to  tell  which  side  has  won. 

Some  of  those  in  the  fort  were  wild  to  get  out.  They 
did  not  want  to  be  caught  like  rats  in  a  trap,  and  a 
large  force  led  by  men  who  stood  high  in  rank  crept 
out  of  the  fort  in  the  dark  night  and  made  their  way  to 
Nash-ville. 

Gen-er-al  Buck-ner  was  left  in  charge  of  Fort  Don- 
el-son,  and  was  too  brave  a  man  to  shrink  from  the  fate 
that  was  left  for  him  and  his  troops.  He  sent  one  of 
his  men  with  a  note  to  Grant  to  ask  his  terms. 

Grant  said  that  he  must  sur-ren-der  at  once;  and  with 
a  dash  of  his  pen  let  him  know  what  he  meant  to  do  : 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL   U.  S.   GRAXT. 


29 


"  /  pro-pose  to  move 
im-me-di-ate-ly  on  your 
works"  Buck-ner  did 
not  like  this,  and  sent 
word  to  Grant  that 
the  terms  were  too 
harsh.  Grant  went 
at  once  to  see  him. 
They  had  been  good 
friends  at  West  Point, 
and  were  good  friends 
now, though  one  fought 
for  the  North  and  one 
for  the  South.  Does 
it  not  seem  strange  ?  Grant  told  Buck-ner  that  he  had 
no  wish  to  take  down  his  pride  in  a  mean  way,  so  he 
and  his  staff  might  keep  their  swords,  and  they  and  all 
of  the  men  might  take  off  such  goods  as  they  had  had 
for  their  own  use.  But  they  must  give  up  all  that  the 
U-ni-ted  States  had  a  right  to. 

The  cap-ture  of  Fort  Don-el-son  was  the  first  great 
deed  that  had  been  done  since  the  war  broke  out.  It 
gave  good  cheer  to  the  North,  and  put  U-lys-ses  S. 
Grant  in  the  front  rank  of  fame. 


ES  CAPE    OF    PRIS-ON-ERS    AT    FORT    DON-EL-SON. 


30 


OUR  HERO ,■— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRAXT. 


CHAPTER   V. 

TWO      DAYS      OF      BLOOD. 

The  North  had  now  two  strong- holds — one  on  the 
Ten-nes-see — and  one  on  the  Cum-ber-land.  Day  by 
day  fresh  troops  were  sent  from  the  East,  and  in  Feb- 
ru-a-ry  a  large  force  of  men,  in  charge  of  Grant,  set  out 
to  push  their  way  to  West  Ten-nes-see.  It  was  a  slow 
march,  for  the  Ten-nes-see  rose  so  high  that  there  were 
but  two  or  three  bluffs  where  the  boats  could  land. 
Troops  were  left  at  each  of  these  points,  while  Grant — 
who  at  this  time  was  thought  to  be  far  too  bold  —  kept 
on,  and  made  a  halt  at  Shi-loh,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
stream.  From  this  point  he  could  keep  an  eye  on  the 
rail-road  that  ran  through  the  heart  of  the  South,  and 
vex  the  foe,  which  was  then  in  great  force  at  or  near 
Co-rinth. 

By  the  first  of  A-pril  both  sides  were  full  of  fight, 
and  each  grew  more  and  more  bold. 

Shi-loh  was  just  a  log-church  that  stood  on  a  ridge 
of  ground  from  twro  and  a  half  to  three  miles  back  from 
the   bluffs   at    Pitts-bur^h    Land-inor    with    Snake   creek 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


31 


SHI-LOH    CHURCH. 


on  the  north,  and  Lick  creek  on  the  south,  and  Owl 
creek  on  the  west.  All  these  creeks,  which  for  the  most 
part  of  the  year  were  of  no  great  size,  were  now  broad 
streams.  Here  and  there  were  thick  woods,  a  high 
bluff,  or  a  deep  gorge,  and  the  men  had  to  make  the 
most  of  these  as  they  were  new  to  war,  and  had  had 
no  chance  to  learn  how  to  dig  the  trench,  to  throw  up 
earth -works,  or  to  build  such  forts  as  might  serve 
them   in  a  time  of  need. 

Grant,  who  had  to  keep  an  eye  on  all  the  troops,  and 
to  see  to  their  needs,  spent  each  day  at  Pitts -burgh 
Land-ing,  and  at  night  went  down  in  the  boat  to  Sa- 
van-na.  Sher-man  was  in  charge  of  the  troops  at  the 
front,  with  their  lines  drawn  up  to  face  the  Co-rinth 
road,  by    which    route    the    Rebs   would    have   to   come. 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


Shots  were  fired  now  and  then  from  both  sides,  and  by 
the  3rd  of  A-pril  the  fight  seemed  close  at  hand. 

Grant  staid  on  the  field  till  quite  late  each  night,  up 
to  the  time  the  fight  took  place.  On  Fri-day,  the  4th, 
while  on  his  way  to  the  front,  his  horse  fell  with  him. 
The  night  was  dark,  the  rain  poured  down,  and  he  had 
to  trust  to  his  horse  to  find  the  road.  Grant's  leg-  was 
hurt  so  that  his  boot  had  to  be  cut  off,  and  for  two  or 
three  days  he  was  quite  lame. 

No  one  knew  just  at  what  point  the  foe  would  make 
the  first  at-tack,  but  Grant,  up  to  this  time,  had  thought 
it  might  be  at  Crump's  Land-ing.  By  the  5th  he  was 
quite  sure  that  the  fight  would  take  place  at  Shi-loh, 
and  at  once  went  to  work  to  place  his  troops  so  that 
they  could  come  from  the  right  or  left  flank  to  the  aid 
of  those  who  were  at  the  front. 

Some  of  those  who  led  the  troops  had  not  been  in 
this  kind  of  a  fight,  and  did  not  know  the  rules  of  war, 
so  they  went  to  the  left  when  they  should  have  gone  to 
right,  and  were  not  where  they  should  have  been  when 
the  fight  took  place. 

At  dawn,  on  the  6th  of  A-pril,  Gen-er-al  Al-bert 
Sid-ney  Johns-ton,  who  led  the  troops  from  the  South, 
made  a  fierce  at-tack  on  the  lines  at  Shi-loh.      Grant 


OUR  HERO .— GENERAL    U.    S.   GRANT. 


33 


had  gone  to  Sa- 
\ran-na,  six  miles 
off,  and  as  soon  as 
he  heard  the  fire 
of  the  guns  he 
made  his  way  at 
once  to  the  front. 
The  fight  was  hot 
from  the  first,  and 
as  the  Rebs  came 
up  thev  fell  on  the 
guards  sent  out  by 

THE     KEB-EL    GEN     AL-EERT    SIDNEY    JCHN-STON    KIEL-ED.  1    rCll-tlSS    aild    ohel"- 

man  who  soon  had  their  troops  in  line. 

These  two  chiefs  had  a  lot  of  raw  men  from  the  West, 
who  knew  how  to  use  a  pick,  axe,  or  spade,  but  did  not 
know  well  how  to  load  or  fire  a  gun.  Part  of  them  fled 
in  great  fright  to  the  rear.  The  rest  stood  firm.  New 
lines  had  to  be  made  as  the  ranks  gave  way. 

If  all  those  who  led  the  troops  had  been  as  brave  as 
Grant  and  Sher-man,  the  souls  of  the  men  would  have 
been  fired  with  strength,  and  the}'  would  not  have 
fought  so  like  an  armed  mob.  But,  as  I  have  said,  war 
was  a  new  thine,  and  all  these  men  had  much  to  learn. 


34  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U   S.   GRANT. 

It  was  not  strange  that  they  were  full  of  fear,  that  their 
hearts  gave  way,  and  that  they  lost  their  heads. 

All  day  the  fight  went  on,  with  great  loss  on  both 
sides.  Now  and  then  the  boys  in  blue  had  had  to  fall 
back  and  to  change  their  lines,  and  when  night  came 
on  they  were  more  than  a  mile  from  the  place  where 
they  had  stood  at  dawn  of  the  day  to  meet  the  foe. 

In  one  of  the  moves  Gen-er-al  Pren-tiss  did  not  fall 
back  with  the  rest,  and  he  and  a  large  force  of  his  men 
fell  in  the  hands  of  the  Rebs. 

Sher-man  was  shot  twice;  once  in  the  hand,  once 
near  the  neck.  A  third  ball  went  through  his  hat. 
More  than  one  horse  was  shot  from  un-der  him.  It 
would  have  been  a  sad  day  for  the  troops  at  Shi-loh 
had   Sher-man  had  to  leave  the  field. 

A  hard  rain  set  in  on  the  night  of  the  6th.  The 
Yanks  had  lost  all  their  tents — the  Rebs  were  in  their 
camp — and  they  had  to  rest  as  best  they  could.  Grant's 
leg  gave  him  so  much  pain  that  he  could  not  rest,  so  he 
went  to  the  log-church.  Here  men  were  brought  in  to 
have  their  wounds  dressed,  or  to  have  an  arm  or  a  leg 
cut  off.  This  was  a  sight  he  could  not  bear,  so  he 
limped  back  to  the  tree  neath  which  he  sat  to  wait  for 
the  dawn  of  day. 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


35 


GRANT    A-SLEEP. 


Four  times  each  hour  all 
through  the  night  the  gun- 
boats sent  a  shell  right  down 
near  the  foe  ;  and  all  night  long 
the  boats  brought  fresh  troops, 
with  brave  men  at  their  head, 
to  the  east  side  of  the  stream 
to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  boys 
in  blue. 

Grant  had  made  up  his  mind  to  whip  the  Rebs  the 
next  day,  and  he  had  found  out  that  the  side  which 
made  the  first  at-tack  was  the  side  that  won  the  fio-ht. 

This  was  the  way   he  ranged  his  men  : — 

Gen-er-al  Lew.  Wal-lace  on  the  right,  Sher-man  to 
his  left;  then  McCler-nand,  and  then  Hurl-but.  Nel- 
son of  Bu-ell's  corps  (kor)  was  on  the  left ;  Crit-ten-den 
next  in  line,  and  on  his  rio-ht ;  and  McCook  at  the  far 
end  of  the  right  wing. 

Nel-son  led  the  fight  on  the  7th,  and  soon  the  whole 
line  was  in  the  heat  of  the  fray.  The  strength  of  the 
new  troops  told  at  once.  The  Rebs  were  not  so  full 
of  dash  as  they  had  been  on  the  first  day.  They  were 
worn  out.  So  were  Grant's  men;  but  they  were  full  of 
pluck,  and  pluck  is  bound  to  win. 


36 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


Ground  was  won  and  lost  on  both  sides.  The  dead 
lay  in  heaps ;  blue  and  gray  side  by  side.  But  the 
Rebs  were  pushed  inch  by  inch  till  they  had  lost  all 
they  had  gained.  As  the  day  wore  on  it  was  plain  to 
be  seen  that  the  fight  was  near  its  end;  the  Rebs  would 
have  to  yield.  A  large  force  of  their  men  had  gone  to 
the  rear. 


THE    LAST    CHARGE    AT    SHI-LOH. 


At  three  o'clock  Charge !  was  the  cry  that  went  out 
to  the  boys  in  blue.  They  met  it  with  loud  cheers,  held 
their  guns  in  front  of  them,  and  with  a  run  drove  the 
foe  quite  off  the  field. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT. 


37 


On  the  6th  there  were  33.000  boys  in  blue  at  Shi-loh. 
On  the  7th  Bu-ell  brought  20.000  more.  It  is  said  that 
Beau-re-gard,  who  led  the  foe,  had  40,955.  Our  loss  in 
the  two  days'  fight  was  12.217.     Theirs,  10.699. 

On  the  8th,  when  Beau-re-o-ard  sent  to  Grant  to  know 
if  he  could  take  his  dead  from  the  field  and  place  them 
in  the  ground,  he  found  that  Grant  had  done  this  kind 
act.  Foes  had  the  same  care  as  friends.  Had  Grant 
been  a  hard,  bad  man,  he  would  not  have  done  such  a 
deed  as  this,  which  is  not  a  part  of  the  code  of  war, 
and  it  was  proof  that  he  had  a  large  heart,  full  of  peace 
and  erood-will  to  all  men. 


AK-MY     WAG-ON 


OUR  HERO  .-—GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE       SIEGE       OF      CO-RINTH. 

Up  to  this  time  Grant  had  thought,  as  most  of  the 
North  did,  that  the  war  would  soon  be  at  an  end ;  that 
men  would  lay  down  their  guns  and  swords,  and  go 
back  to  the  work  they  had  left  and  the  peace  they  had 
known. 

But  the  cause  for  which  the  South  fought  was  one 
they  had  thought  of  for  a  long  time.  For  years  and 
years  they  had  kept  up  a  talk  of  State  rights,  and  their 
own  wrongs,  and  at  last  they  had  got  to  feel  that  the 
North  was  their  worst  foe.  There  were  bad  men  on 
both  sides  who  did  all  they  could  to  fan  this  flame 
which  took  fire  in  1861. 

The  South  had  made  the  war — and  the  North  must 
do  its  best  to  crush  it  out.  So  Grant  thought,  and  was 
in  haste  to  bring  back  peace  to  the  land.  The  next  we 
hear  of  him  is  at  Co-rinth,  to  which  place  he  laid  siege 
on  the  last  of  May.  It  was  thought  there  would  be  a 
great  fight  at  this  place,  but  there  was  none  at  all.  The 
Rebs  went  out,  and  when  the  boys  in  blue  went  in  they 


OCR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  3y 

found  a  lot  of  old  guns  made  of  wood,  and  all  round 
signs  that  Beau-re-gard  had  not  such  a  strong-  force  as 
he  was  thought  to  have  had. 

For  the  next  two  or  three  months  there  was  not  much 
done  by  the  troops  in  West  Ten-nes-see.  The  war 
went  on  in  the  East,  and  much  blood  was  shed. 

On  the  15  th  of  Sep-tem-ber  Price  came  up  from  the 
South  and  seized  I-u-ka,  which  is  a  score  of  miles  east 
of  Co-rinth.  On  the  15th  Grant  sent  word  to  Hal-leck 
that  by  his  leave  he  would  at-tack  Price  ere  he  could 
cross  Bear  Creek.  On  the  1 8th  he  sent  Gen-er-al  Ord 
up  to  a  point  four  miles  from  I-u-ka,  where  he  found  a 
strong  force  of  the  Rebs  on  the  north  side  of  the  town. 

Rose-crans  was  to  push  up  on  the  left  with  all  speed 
so  that  the  at-tack  could  take  place  on  the  19th.  The  next 
day  they  might  have  to  fall  back  as  there  was  a  fear  that 
Van  Dorn,  who  had  come  up  to  the  aid  of  Price,  would 
at-tack  Co-rinth.  His  plan  was  to  cross  the  Ten-nes- 
see  and  make  his  way  to  Ken-tuck-y.  This  Grant  did 
not  mean  to  let  him  do. 

The  roads  were  so  bad  that  Rose-crans  could  not  get 
his  troops  near  I-u-ka  as  soon  as  he  had  planned,  and 
Ord  had  to  wait  till  he  came.  The  Rebs  were  on  a  hill 
which  gave  them  a  view  of  the  road,  and  as  Rose-crans 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


came  up  with  his  men  at  half-past  four  they  at  once 
made  a  fierce  at-tack  on  the  boys  in  blue  and  drove 
them  back.  There  was  no  chance  for  them  to  use  their 
field-guns— two  or  three  of  which  they  lost — or  to  fight 
as  they  would  if  they  had  had  more  space,  but  they 
held  their  own  till  dark,  and  had  strong  hopes  that  I-u- 
ka  would  fall  in  their  hands  the  next  day. 

The  wind  did  not  blow  the  right  way  to  bear  the 
sound  of  the  guns  to  Ord,  who  was  some  miles  off,  and 
so  he  did  not  know  of  the  fight  at  the  time  it  took  place. 
Late  at  night  he  got  the  word,  and  at  once  set  out  with 
his  troops  to  help  Rose-crans  and  Ham-il-ton.  But 
the  Rebs  had  found  out  that  they  would  soon  be 
hemmed  in  by  Grant's  troops,  and  so  took  flight  by  a 
back  road  while  the  way  was  still  free.  At  nine  o'clock 
the  next  day,  when  Grant  got  back  to  I-u-ka,  for  he 
had  to  drive  up  the  troops  on  all  sides,  he  found  the 
foe  had  fled,  and  were  by  this  time  so  far  off  that  there 
was  no  chance  to  catch  them. 

This  small  fight  at  I-u-ka  put  a  check  on  the  plans 
of  the  South,   and  drove  the  Rebs  back  to  Co-rinth  — 
where  they  made  an  at-tack  on   the   2nd  of  Oc-to-ber. 
On  the  3rd  the  fight  was  hot  and  fierce,  and  Van  Dorn' 
won  the  day.      This  piece  of  good-luck  made  the  boys 


OUR  HERO  .  —  GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


AT-TACK    ON    CORINTH. 


in  gray  more  bold.  They  stormed  the  earth  works,  and 
fought  their  way  up  to  the  town.  A  sharp  fire  from  the 
forts  drove  them  back  and  put  them  to  rout.  Twice — 
thrice — they  charge  in  the  same  way,  and  are  met  with 
a  storm  as  brave  as  their  own.  At  last  they  give  up, 
bv  noon  the  fight  is  at  an  end,  the  foe  is  in  flight,  and 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  wave  once  more  from  the  fort 
in  Co-rinth. 

It   was   Grants   plan    to   push   on   at   once,   seize   Van 
Dorn's  force  and  end  the  war  in  that  part  of  the  land. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.    GRANT. 


But  the  troops  were  worn  out  with  the  two  days'  fight. 
Rose-crans  plead  their  need  of  rest,  and  his  own,  and 
was  glad  to  sheathe  his  sword  for  a  while.  He  had 
won  a  great  fight,  and  he  had  his  meed  of  fame.  He 
was  made  a  Ma-jor  Gen-er-al,  and  put  in  com-mand  of 
the  ar-my  of  the  Cum-ber-land. 

Grant  was  such  a  plain  man  that  it  was  hard  work 
for  him  to  get  those  who  put  on  more  style  to  do  as  he 
bade  them,  or  to  yield  him  the  praise  that  was  his  due. 
They  had  no  great  faith  in  his  skill,  and  thought  that 
all  he  had  done  and  won  had  been  through  sheer  good 
luck.  But  he  was  calm  through  all,  and  could  bide  his 
time.  He  did  not  love  war.  The  great  cry  of  his  heart 
was  "Let  us  have  peace!"  His  whole  thought  was  how 
to  bring  this  strife  to  an  end. 

The  Mis-sis-sip-pi  is  a  great  stream  that  starts  in  the 
North  West  and  makes  its  way  down  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mex-i-co.  It  was  the  great  prize  for  which  the  North 
and  South  fought,  and  the  South  who  knew  it  would  be 
death  to  their  cause  to  lose  it,  had,  when  the  war  first 
broke  out,  built  forts  on  the  best  points  the  whole  length 
of  the  stream.  Co-lum-bus,  Fort  Pil-low,  and  Isl-and 
(i-land)  Num-ber  Ten,  they  lost  in  the  spring  of  1862. 
Vicks-burg  and  Port  Hud-son  were  still  in  their  hands, 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL    U.    S.    GRANT. 


43 


and  it  was  Grants  wish  to  move  on  Vicks-burg  and  take 
it  as  he  took  Fort  Don-el-son. 

The  North  had  seized  New-Or-leans,  and  in  June 
1862,  Com-mo-dore  Far-ra-gut  and  Bng-a-dier  Gen-er-al 
Thom-as  Wil-li-ams  made  their  way  up  the  Mis-sis-sip- 
pi  as  far  as  Vicks-burg,  but  did  not  take  the  town. 

The  South  then  set  to  work  to  add  to  the  strength  of 
the  fort  on  both  sides,  and  made  it  so  strong  that  it  was 
thought  no  force  could  take  it  by  land  or  by  sea. 
Those  who  tried  were  sure  to  fail,  and  as  long  as  Vicks- 
burg  stood,  the  South  could  keep  the  North  at  bay. 
The  whole  of  the  Mis-sis-sip-pi  was  theirs. 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  V.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE      SIEGE      O  F      VICKS-BURG. 

The  town  of  Vicks-burg  stands  on  a  high  cliff  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  Mis-sis-sip-pi,  and  high  bluffs  edge 
the  stream  for  at  least  a  score  of  miles.  So  steep  were 
these  cliffs  that  no  guns  could  be  brought  to  bear  on 
them,  and  no  boats  from  the  North  could  pass  the  forts 
and  make  their  way  out  to  the  sea. 

In  the  rear  of  Vicks-burg  the  ground  was  rough  and 
steep.  Here  and  there  was  a  deep,  dark  gorge.  The 
low  lands  were  full  of  creeks  and  swamps.  All  these 
were  a  great  help  to  the  South  who  flung  out  its  flag, 
and  dared  the  whole  North  to  haul  it  down  and  set 
up  the   Stars  and  Stripes  in  its  place. 

Grant  kept  his  eye  on  Vicks-burgh.  He  knew  it 
would  be  a  hard  task  to  get  near  it,  or  to  take  it,  but  he 
did  not  mind  that.  He  set  his  brain  to  work  to  think 
out  a  plan  by  which  he  could  get  round  the  foe.  Both 
he  and  his  troops  were  sick  of  camp-life.  It  would  soon 
be  time  for  them  to  be  on  the  move. 

Grant  thought  if  he  could  get  back  of  the  Rebs,  on  the 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.    GRANT. 


45 


crest  of  the  hills,  he  would  force  them  to  fight  in  the 
field  or  leave  them  to  starve.  But  the  long  rains  and 
the  bad  roads  made  him  give  up  this  plan.  Then  he 
thought  a  ditch  could  be  cut  which  would  change  the 
course  of  the  Mis-sis-sip-pi  and  let  the  gun-boats  pass 
by  Vicks-burg  in  full  view  of  the  forts,  but  out  of 
reach  of  their  guns. 

In  Jan-u-a-ry  he  set 
his  troops  to  work  out 
this  scheme — which  Lin- 
coln thought  a  good  one. 
The  eyes  of  the  North 
and  South  were  on  him. 
For  two  months  the 
work  was  kept  up,  and 
it  was  thought  a  new 
route  might  at  last  be 
made.  But  in  March 
the  Mis-sis-sip-pi  rose 
to  a  great  height.  The 
strong  dams  that  had  been  built  could  not  stay  its 
course.  All  the  camps  and  all  the  live  stock  were 
swept  olT  by  the  flood,  and  the  troops  had  to  flee  for 
their   lives.      The  work  of  all   those  weeks  was  lost,  and 


CA-NAL    AT    VICKS-BURG. 


46  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.    GRANT. 

Grant  made  up  his  mind  that  Vicks-burg  must  be  won 
by  hard  fights.  All  these  new  schemes  and  new  routes 
would  help  him  get  a  loot-hold,  and  give  work  to  his 
men  till  such  time  as  he  could  move  his  troops  on 
dry  land. 

While  this  sort  of  work  went  on,  Ad-mi-ral  Far-ra- 
gut,  with  a  part  of  his  fleet,  ran  by  the  forts  at  Port 
Hud-son,  and  came  up  near  where  Grant  was.  For  a 
while  he  lay  near  War-ren-ton,  but  could  not  give  much 
aid  to  Grant,  who  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do. 

The  North  thought  him  slow,  and  had  a  mind  to 
send  a  new  man  to  take  his  place.  But  Lin-coln  had 
faith  in  him,  and  said,  "  Wait.      Give  him  a  chance." 

It  was  on  the  night  of  the  1 6th  of  A-pril,  1863,  that 
Grant  set  out  with  Ad-mi-ral  Por-ter  to  take  the  town 
of  Vicks-burg.  The  night  was  dark ;  there  was  no 
moon  ;  and  by  ten  o'clock  the  fleet  were  all  in  line,  and 
one  by  one  slipped  down  the  stream  as  far  as  Mil-li- 
ken's  bend.  Soon  a  fire  of  shot  and  shell  came  down 
on  them  from  the  bluffs.  The  boats  sent  back  their  fire, 
and  kept  close  to  the  shore  where  the  smoke  would  hide 
them  best.  Fires  were  lit  on  the  bluffs  that  made  all 
up  and  down  the  stream  as  light  as  day.  The  tides 
were  swift,  and  the  glare  of  lights,  and  the  dense  smoke 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT.  47 


made  it  hard  for  the  men  at  the  helm  to  steer  the  boats. 
The  Hen-ry  Clay,  which  had  in  tow  a  barge  with  troops 
on  board,  had  to  be  cut  loose  and  was  soon  set  on  fire 
by  a  shell  that  burst  near  it. 

For  more  than  two  hours  the  fleet  were  in  the  fight : 
but  at  last  the  blaze  on  hill  and  stream  died  out,  the  noise 
of  the  guns  ceased,  and  all  was  still  and  dark  once  more. 

On  the  26th  of  A-pril  six  more  boats  with  troops  on 
board,  tried  to  run  by  the  Vicks-burg  forts.  Five  of 
them  got  by,  but  one  was  struck  in  the  hull  by  a  large 
ball  and  sunk  at  once.  By  the  29th  the  whole  of  the 
Thir-teenth  corps  (kor)  was  at  a  place  known  as  Hard- 
Times.  The  plan  was  to  get  on  Pem-ber-tons  left  — and 
at-tack  the  fort  at  Grand  Gulf. 

On  the  29th,  Ad-mi-ral  Por-ter  brought  his  gun-boats 
in  front  of  Grand  Gulf,  but  though  they  kept  up  their 
fire  for  more  than  five  hours,  they  had  to  turn  back  at 
last.  The  guns  of  the  foe  were  too  much  for  them. 
But  that  night  the  boats  ran  by  the  forts  at  Grand  Gulf 
and  all  the  troops  that  were  on  board  were  put  on 
shore  at  Hard  Times,  and  were  soon  on  their  march 
to  De  Shroon's,  a  point  on  the  west-shore,  three  miles 
down  the  stream. 

Grant  found  out  there  was  a  crood  road  from  Bru-ins- 


48 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


CJL 


— -      \ 


GUN-BOATS    ON    THE    MIS-SIS  SIP-PI. 


burg  to  Port  Gib-son,  so  he  at  once  made  up  his  mind 
to  cross  the  Mis-sis-sip-pi  and  move  on  Grand  Gulf 
from  the  rear.  On  the  ist  of  May  they  met  the  foe 
near  Port  Gib-son  and  drove  them  from  the  field. 
Now  and  then  the)*  had  to  stop  to  build  a  bridge,  or  to 
have  a  brush  with  the  foe,  and  in  this  way  they  kept  on 
their  march  to  Grand  Gulf.  They  went  in  camp  with 
Pem-ber-ton  at  Vicks-burg  on  the  left-flank,  and  Jo-seph 
E.  Johns-ton  at  Jack-son  on  their  right-flank.  Grant's 
first  move  was  to  Jack-son,  and  on  the  14th  of  May 
Sher-man  and  McPher-son's  corps  took  it  by  storm,  and 
left  not  a  thing  there  that  could  be  of  use  to  the  foe. 

The  next  day  the  troops  went  west- ward,  and  on 
the  1 6th  met  the  foe  at  Cham-pi-on's  hill  where  a  hard 
fiofht  was  fought. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.    S.    GRAXT. 


49 


The  boys  in  blue  drove  back  the  boys  in  gray,  and 
on  the  17th,  came  up  with  them  at  the  Big  Black. 
Here    they  fought  hard  for  two  or  three  hours.      The 

North  took  the  works  by 
storm,  and  the  foe  fled 
in  great  haste,  and  the 
next  day  Grant  had  his 
troops  in  front  of  Vicks- 
burg. 

For  three  weeks  the  men 
had  not  had  much  to  eat, 
and  now  they  felt  the  need 
of  bread.  As  Grant  went 
through  the  ranks  one  day, 
one  of  the  men  who  knew  him  said  in  a  low  voice,  but 
so  that  Grant  could  hear  him — "Hard-tack!'  The  men 
took  it  up  and  "Hard-tack!  hard-tack!  hard-tack!" 
was  the  cry  the  whole  length  of  the  line.  As  soon  as 
Grant  told  them  that  a  new  road  had  been  built  by 
which  food  would  be  brought  to  them,  the  cry  for  bread 
gave  way  to  cheers,  and  all  went  well. 

Grant  sent  word  that  the  at-tack  should  be  made  on 
Vicks-burg  by  all  parts  of  the  line  at  the  same  hour  on 
the  22nd  of  May.      So  at  10a.m.  the)'  made  the  charge, 


CAP-TURK    OF    A    GUN. 


5° 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


and  a  fierce  one  it  was.  Some  of  the  brave  men  made 
their  way  up  to  the  works,  and  set  their  flags  there,  but 
found  no  place  where  they  could  get  in.  It  was  hard 
work  to  drag    the    field-guns   up   and    down    the    steep 


FIRST    CHARGE    AT    VICKS-BURG. 


slopes  in  the  face  of  such  a  rain  of  shot  and  shell  as 
was  sent  from  the  breast-works  that  hid  the  foe,  so 
they  could  be  of  no  use  in  this  close  fight. 

Grant's  loss  was  great,  and  on  the  night  of  the  22nd 
the  troops  were  with-drawn,  and  for  two  days  the  dead 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


were  left  on  the  field  in  the  hot  sun,  as  it  was  not  safe 
for  live  men  to  go  near  them.  The  stench  was  so  great 
that  Pem-ber-ton  knew  that  all  the  folks  in  Vicks-burg 
would  soon  be  made  sick  by  it,  and  he  had  his  troops 
cease  their  fire  so  that  Grant's  men  could  dig  graves 
and  care  for  the  slain. 

Grant  did  not  want  to  lose  more  men  than  there  was 
need  to  lose,  and  he  saw  there  was  not  much  to  be  made 
in  this  kind  of  a  fight.  There  was  but  one  thing-  to 
do,  and  that  was  to  out-camp  the  foe. 

This  is  known  as  the  siege  of  Vicks-burg,  and  I  will 
tell  vou  how  the  boys  in  blue  went  to  work  to  starve  out 
the  boys  in  gray.  Here  a  trench  must  be  dug.  There 
a  wall  must  be  put  up.  On  top  of  these  walls  were 
great  sand-bags,  with  a  space  left  as  a  loop-hole  for  a 
gun.  Logs  were  put  on  top  of  the  bags  so  that  the 
men  could  stand  up  and  not  be  seen  by  the  foe,  and  hit 
by  their  guns.  For  all  this  time  the  fire  was  kept  up 
with  shot  and  shell,  and  a  sharp  watch  was  kept  up  on 
both  sides. 

All  the  roads  that  led  to  and  from  Vicks-burg  were 
held  by  the  troops  from  the  North.  They  seized 
the  live  stock,  and  all  the  corn  they  c*ould  find  on  the 
roads,  and  fresh  troops  came  from   Mis-sou -ri  and  else- 


52 


OUR  HERO  .•-  GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


where  to  add  to  their  strength.  There  was  no  chance 
for  Pem-ber-ton  to  send  word  to  Johns-ton,  or  for  Johns- 
ton   to   send   word   to    Pem-ber-ton. 

Mines  were  cut  deep  in  the  hills,  some  of  which  were 
blown  up  and  left  chasms  where  they  had  stood.  The 
Rebs  would  dig  on  their  side,  but  did  not  strike  the  line 
just  right  so  as  to  push  in  where  the  boys  in  blue  were 
at  work. 

"  Once, "  says  Grant,  "  when  »a  charge  went  off  there 

were  a  few  men  at  work  in  the  mine  that  had  been  cut 

through  to  find  ours.     All  that  were  there  were  thrown 

in  the  air,  and  some  of  them  came  down  on  our  side — 

more  scared  than  hurt.     One  of  these  was  a  black  man. 

,    n   ,  Some  one  asked  him 

Jf 


high    he    went 


THROW-ING    HAND    GRE  NADES. 


how 

up.  'Dun  no,'  he 
said,  '  but  t'ink  bout 
tree  mile.'  Gen-er-al 
Lo-gan  took  charge 
of  this  black  man, 
and  made  good  use 
of  him  till  the  end 
of  the  siege." 
The  Mis-sis-sip-pi, 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  53 

from  its  source  to  its  mouth — save  the  point  right  in 
front  of  Vicks-burg  and  of  Port  Hud-son  —  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  North.  The  land  far  and  near  had  been 
laid  waste  to  feed  the  large  force  of  troops  out-side  of 
Vicks-burg. 

Pem-ber-ton  had  said  "  I  knew  I  could  stand  a  siege," 
and  it  was  his  wish  to  hold  the  fort  as  long  as  there 
was  a  man  left  to  fire  a  gun.  But  there  were  those  in 
Vicks-burg  who  felt  that  it  was  best  to  run  up  the  white 
flag.  To  hold  out  meant  to  starve,  and  the  need  of 
food  was  so  great  that  death  seemed  to  stare  them  in 
the  face. 

Deep  caves  were  dug  in  which  they  had  to  make 
their  homes  so  as  to  be  safe  from  the  shells  that  were 
sent,  in- to  the  town.  In  time  these  were  not  fit  to  live 
in.  The  place  was  full  of  tramps  —  men  who  would 
eat  all  they  could  get,  but  would  not  work.  Worse  ills 
than  these  they  had  to  put  up  with,  and  hope  had 
ceased  to  cheer  them.  Day  by  day  there  was  less  and 
less  food.  An  egg  was  worth  its  weight  in  gold.  Mule 
meat  could  be  bought,  but  it  was  dear,  and  some  could 
not  eat  it  at  all. 

One  day  as  Grant  rode  round  his  lines  he  stopped 
for  a  drink  at  a  house  where  a  proud  dame  dwelt,  whose 


54 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  V.   S.   GRANT! 


heart  was  all  with  the  South.  She  asked  him  with  a 
sneer  if  he  thought  he  should  get  in  to  Vicks-buro-. 
"Yes,  of  course,"  said  Grant.  "But  when?"  asked  the 
dame.  "  I  can  not  tell  just  when  I  shall  take  the  town," 
said  Grant  in  his  calm  way,  but  /  mean  to  stay  here 
till  I  do  if  it  takes  me  thir-ty  years" 


TLAG    OF    TRITE    AT    VICKS-EURG. 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRAXT. 


55 


At  this  the  proud  dame's  heart  went  down,  down, 
down.  She  had  been  full  of  hope  that  her  side  would 
win,  but  if  this  man  meant  to  keep  up  the  siege  for  such 
a  length  of  time — and  she  knew  by  his  looks  that  he 
meant  what  he  said — what  chance  was  there?  Its  fate 
was  sure,  as  time  would  show. 

On  the  ist  of  July,  Johns-ton  made  a  move  in  hopes 
to  turn  Grants  troops,  and  give  Pem-ber-ton  a  chance 
to  cut  his  way  out.  He  fixed  his  camp  'twixt  Browns- 
ville and  the  Bio-  Black,  and  wrote  a  note  to  Pem-ber- 
ton  that  the  move  he  had  made  was  the  best  one,  he 
thought,  to  raise  the  sieo;e  of  Vicks-burg". 

But  the  note,  and  Johns-ton  too,  fell  in  the  hands  of 
Grant's  men,  and  on  the  3rd  of  Ju-ly  white  flags  were 
put  up  on  part  of  the  works  round  Vicks-burg.  The 
fight  on  that  part  of  the  line  came  to  an  end  at  once. 
Soon  two  men  were  seen  on  their  way  to  the  camp 
with  white  flags. 

The  news  spread  !  The  troops  were  wild  with  joy  ! 
All  thc}r  had  borne  had  not  been  in  vain  !  The  siege 
was  at  an  end,  and  once  more  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
would  wave  from  the  heights  of  Vicks-burg! 

I  he  two  men  were  Bow-en  and  Mont-gom-e-ry,  Pem- 
ber-ton's  aide -de-camps.      It  was  their  wish  to  speak  to 


56 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


Grant.  But  Grant  would  not  see  them.  He  sent  word 
that  if  it  was  Pem-ber-ton's  wish  he  would  meet  him 
in  front  of  McPherson's  corps  at  three  o'clock  that 
same  day. 

So  at  three  o'clock  Pem-ber-ton  came  with  Bow-en 
and  Mont-gom-er-y,  and  Grant  with  Gen-er-als  Ord, 
McPher-son,  Lo-gan,  A.  J.  Smith,  and  some  of  his  staff. 
They  met  near  an  old  oak-tree,  and  at  the  end  of  an 
hour's  talk  had  not  come  to  terms. 

By  ten  o'clock  that  night  Grant  was  to  send  his  terms 
to  the  foe,  who  would  then  say  what  they  would  do. 
Grant  wrote  out  his  terms,  and  said  at  the  close  that  if 

they   were   such  as  to 


MEET-IXG    OF    GRANT    AND    PF.M-RK  R-TOV 


please  the  foe,  "white 
flags  must  be  put  up 
on  all  your  lines  so 
that  my  troops  shall 
not  fire  on  your  men." 
The  Sur-ren-der  of 
Vicks-burg  took  place 
on  the  4th  of  Ju-ly. 
It  was  a  grand  but 
yet  a  sad  sight.  Not 
a  cheer  was  heard  as 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT.  57 


men  in  gray  filed  out  and  stocked  their  arms  in  front 
of  the  men  in  blue. 

A  man  in  blue  went  through  the  town  at  a  slow  pace. 
He  led  the  van-guard  of  Grant's  troops.  This  is  the 
way  they  took  the  town.  First  came  one  man.  Then 
there  was  a  space.  Then  three  men.  Then  a  space. 
Then  six  men.  These  were  a  part  of  the  van-guard. 
Then  came  all  the  rest  of  the  troops — a  mass  of  blue 
coats. 

Lo-gan  s  corps  was  the  first  to  march  in  to  the  town. 
The  For-ty  Fifth  Il-h-nois  was  at  the  head,  and  put  its 
torn  flao;  on  the  court  house  of  Vicks-bur^. 

Grant,  with  his  staff,  rode  in  to  town  at  the  head  of 
Lo-gan's  corps.  He  was  proud  of  his  troops  —  proud 
of  what  he  had  done  —  not  for  the  fame  it  brought  him, 
but  as  proof  that  he  was  right  when  all  thought  he  was 
wrong.  Flis  praise  rang  through  the  land.  Votes  of 
thanks,  and  gifts  of  great  cost  were  sent  to  him.  He 
was  made  a  Ma-jor  Gen-er-al.  Lin-coln  wrote  to  thank 
him  for  what  he  had  done. 

The  loss  of  Vicks-burg  was  a  great  blow  to  the 
South.  Get-tys-burg  fell  the  same  day.  Flope  left 
their  hearts,  but  they  still  fought  on,  as  grim  and  stern 
as  knigfhts  of  old. 


SS  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

AT      C  H A T  -  T  A  -  N O  O - G A  . 

The  State  of  Ten-nes-see  is  full  of  hills  and  vales. 
Great  rail-roads  run  through  it  from  the  north  and  the 
south,  and  from  the  east  to  the  west.  But  few  slaves 
were  in  the  state  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  the  white 
folks  who  dwelt  there  felt  their  hearts  drawn  to  the 
North. 

Where  the  rail -roads  from  Mem-phis  and  Charles-ton, 
Rich-mond,  Nash-ville,  and  At-lan-ta  met,  a  town  sprang 
up  which  took  its  name  from  the  mount  at  whose  base 
it  was  built. 

This  was  the  town  of  Chat-ta-noo-ga. 

Mis-sion-a-ry  Ridge  was  at  the  south-east.  Look-out 
Moun-tain  at  the  west. 

Grant's  next  move  was  to  Chat-ta-noo-ga,  for  all  the 
grain  and  beef  from  Geor-gi-a,  Flor-i-da,  and  Al-a-ba- 
ma,  that  was  sent  to  feed  the  troops  at  the  North,  had 
to  pass  through  this  place,  and  if  it  fell  in  the  hands  of 
the  foe  the  boys  in  blue  would  soon  starve  to  death. 

While  Grant  was  in  front  of  Vicks-burg,  Rose-crans 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


had  had  a  fight  with  Bragg  at  Chick-a-mau-ga  in  which 
he  met  with  great  loss,  and  if  Thom-as  had  not  come 
to  his  aid  he  could  not  have  held  Chat-ta-noo-ga. 

On  the  9th  of  Sep-tem-ber  the  boys  in  blue  took  the 
town,  and  drove  Bragg  back  to  the  hill  tops,  Mis-sion- 
a-ary  Ridge  and  Look-out  Moun-tain,  whence  he  sent 
shells  in  the  camp  at  the  foot  of  the  hills. 

All  through  the  month  of  Sep-tcm-ber,  the  Ar-my 
of  the  Cum-ber-land  lay  in  Chat-ta-noo-ga,  in  a  state 
of  siege.  The  loe  were  on  the  hills  all  round  them. 
There  was  no  chance  for  them  to  cut  their  way  out. 

The  days  were  hot,  and  the  nights  were  cold.  They 
had  no  change  of  clothes,  no  great  coats,  and  no  wraps 
to  keep  them  warm  when  they  slept.  They  had  but 
few  tents.  Food  was  scarce.  Then  the  fall  rains  set 
in.  There  was  no  grass,  hay,  or  oats  for  mule  or 
horse,  and  the  poor  beasts  lay  dead  in  all  the  camp 
streets.  Men  died  of  their  wounds,  who  might  have 
got  well  if   they  had  had  the  right  kind  of  care. 

All  that  Bragg  had  to  do  was  to  wait,  and  Chat-ta- 
noo-ga  would  fall  in  his  hands. 

None  of  the  bovs  in  blue  were  in  such  straits  as  these 
through  all  the  four  years  of  the  war. 

It  was  late  in   Oc-to-ber,    1863,  when   Grant  took  his 


6o 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


place  at  the  head  of  the  Ar-my  of  the  Cum-ber-land. 
He  sent  word  to  hold  Chat-ta-noo-ga.  Thom-as  sent 
word  back  "  /  will  hold  the  town  till  I  starve  !  " 

On  the  20th  he  set  out  from  Lou-is-ville  by  rail,  was 
at  Nash-ville  the  same  night,  and  at  Chat-ta-noo-ga  the 
22nd.  His  first  care  had  been  to  send  food  to  the 
troops,  of  which  they  were  in  great  need. 

Burn-side  was  in  East  Ten-nes-see.  Hook-er  at 
Bridge-port.  Sher-man  and  his  corps  were  on  the  way 
to  join  Grant,  who  at  once  went  to  work  to  lay  out  his 
plans.  Troops  were  sent  from  each  corps  to  guard  the 
roads,  and  a  force,  in  charge  of  Giles  A.  Smith,  to  seize 
a  range  of  hills  which  would  give  them  a  strong  post 


on  high  ground 


FLAT    BOATS    ON    THE    TEN'-XES-SEE. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT.  61 


The  nisrht  of  the  26th  was  dark  and  thick  with  foe. 
At  dawn  ot  the  next  day  three -score  flat  boats  full  of 
troops  set  out  from  Chat-ta-noo-ga.  The  tide  was  so 
strong  there  was  no  need  of  oars,  and  as  they  kept  close 
to  the  lee  shore  they  were  not  seen  nor  heard  by  the  foe, 
till  thev  came  to  the  land  on  the  south  side  of  the  stream. 

Here  a  slight  fight  took  place,  but  by  five  o'clock 
Smith  had  his  troops  on  the  hills.  Four  or  five  of  his 
men  had  wounds,  but  no  one  was  killed. 

On  the  °6th  Hook-er's  corps  crossed  the  Ten-nes-see 
at  Bridge-port,  and  took  up  their  line  of  march,  bv  way 
of  White-sides  to  Wau-hatch-ie.  The  guards  in  front 
of  the  foe  fell  back  as  Hook-er  and  his  troops  went  on. 
Bracer's  men  on  the  hills  sent  shells  down  on  the  men 
in  the  vale.  But  Hooker  kept  on,  and  on  the  28th  went 
in  camp  with-m  a  mile  oi  the  place  where  Smith  was, 
though  on  low  ground.  That  night  Long-street's  corps 
made  a  fierce  at-tack  on  Gea-rv  at  Wau-hatch-ie.  How- 
ard came  up  to  aid  Gea-rv,  who  for  three  hours  had 
kept  up  the  fight  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  and  the  Hash 
of  fire-arms.  By  four  o'clock  the  fight  was  at  an  end, 
and  the:  foe  sent  back  at  each  point. 

How-ard,  while  on  his  way,  came  on  a  range  of  hills 
which  lay  in   lus  line  of   march.      They  were  steep,  and 


62  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 

all  up  the  sides  was  a  dense  growth  of  trees.  On  top 
the  foe  had  built  strong  earth  works,  as  if  they  meant 
to  stay  there  for  some  time.  How-ard  and  his  men 
scale  the  walls.  Shot  and  shell  pour  down  on  them 
from  the  guns  of  the  foe.  They  do  not  mind.  Up, 
up,  up  they  climb,  take  the  works  by  storm,  seize  a  large 
force  of  men,  and  help  to  turn  the  tide  of  war. 

For  the  next  week  or  two  Grant  had  his  hands  full. 
He  had  to  clear  all  the  roads,  see  that  the  troops  were 
well  fed,  get  all  his  troops  in  line  and  add  strength  to 
his  force  so  that  he  could  drive  the  foe  from  the  hills 
round  Chat-ta-noo-ga. 

On  the  14th  of  No-vem-ber,  Grant  sent  word  to 
Burn-side  to  hold  Long-street  in  check,  to  give  him 
(Grant)  time  to  put  a  force  'twixt  him  and  Bragg  that 
would  make  Long-street  take  to  the  hill  roads  to  get  at 
the  stores  he  would  need. 

The  next  day  he  sent  word  to  Burn-side  to  hold 
Knox-ville  for  at  least  one  week.  On  the  23d  he  heard 
that  Bragg  had  left  Mis-sion-a-ry  Ridge,  and  the  next 
day  the  guns  in  Fort  Wood  and  all  the  small  forts  gave 
the  sign  that  the  troops  were  to  march  on  the  foe. 

Gen-er-al  Gor-don  Gran-ger  had  charge  of  Fort 
Wood,   with   Gen-er-al    Phil   Sher-i-dan   and   his   troops 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT. 


on  the  right,  and  Gen-er-al  Wood  and  his  men  on  the 
left.  At  a  sign  they  all  went  to  the  plain  in  front  and 
on  the  right  of  Fort  Wood. 

The  sun  broke  through  the  fog  that  had  lain  all 
day  in  the  vale  and  lit  the  guns  of  the  troops  so  that 
they  shone  and  flashed  as  if  tipped  with  fire. 

At  first  the  foe  on  the  hill-tops  thought  this  was  just 
a  side-show,  but  when  they  saw  the  boys  in  blue  move 
through  the  strip  of  woods  that  led  up  the  hills,  they 
knew  what  was  meant. 

Ere  Bragg  had  had  time  to  send  troops  from  his 
main  camp  on  the  ridge,  Sher-i-dan  had  seized  his  grand 
guards  and  was  in  strong  force  in  the  new  posts  they  had 
won.  All  day  long  the  fight  was  kept  up.  The  foe 
were  swept  back  from  the  points  they  had  held,  and  at 
night-fall  the  great  hosts  slept  in  peace  on  the  heights. 

Sher-man  had  tried  hard  to  get  up  to  Grant,  but  the 
roads  were  so  bad,  and  the  streams  so  hard  to  cross, 
that  it  was  not  till  the  night  of  the  23rd  that  his  third 
corps  came  to  the  mouth  of  the  South  Chick-a-mau-ga, 
four  miles  north  of  Chat-ta-noo-ga.  The  Chick-a-mau- 
ga  is  quite  broad  at  this  point  and  the  bridge  tram 
could  not  bring  the  boats  up  in  time  for  the  troops  to 
cross  with  much  speed. 


64 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


Saw-mills  were  run  night  and  day,  and  boats  made 
and  brought  up  through  the  woods  out  of  sight  of  the 
foe.  A  lot  of  these  bridge  boats  were  hid  in  North 
Chick-a-mau-ga  creek,  five  miles  north  of  the  mouth 
of  the  South  Chick-a-mau-o-a,  and  on  the  ni<dit  of  the 
23rd  of  No-vem-ber  a  large  force  of  armed  men  was 
brought  down  to  a  point  near  the  mouth  of  the  South 
Chick-a-mau-ga. 

A  small  force  went  on  shore,  and  with  great  speed 
made  its  way  up  the  bank  and  seized  a  score  of  the  out- 
guard,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  North  had 
a  strong  hold  on  the 
south  bank  of  the 
Ten-nes-see. 

A  bridge  of 
boats  was  built  so 
that  the  troops  could 
cross  this  stream, 
and  take  up  their 
line  of  march  as 
Grant  thought  best. 
Sher-man  made  his 
way  to  the  foot-hills, 


CHARGE    AT    MIS-SION-A-RY    RIDGE. 


!< 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAXT.  65 

up  which  he  went,  and  was  soon  on  top,  and  not  a 
man  was  hurt.  At  night  the  light  from  his  camp-fires 
made  it  known  to  friend  and  foe  that  he  had  seized  and 
held  Mis-sion-a-ry  Ridge. 

Hook-ers  camps  were  all  on  the  west  side  of  Look-out 
creek.  On  the  Chat-ta-noo-ga  side  of  Look-out  mount, 
was  a  zi«;-za£  road.  Hook-er  thought  if  he  could  o-ain 
this  road  he  could  drive  off  the  foe  so  they  could  not 
get  aid  from  Bragg. 

The  mount  was  steep  and  rough.  Great  crags  stuck 
out  on  all  sides.  Few  would  care  to  climb  this  wall 
of  stone,  and  who  would  dare  such  a  task  in  face  of  the 
foe,  and  of  the  fire  of  those  great  guns?  It  makes  us 
hold  our  breath  to  read  of  such  brave  deeds. 

Up  the  face  of  the  steep  hill  go  Gea-ry  and  his 
troops.  They  drive  back  the  foe;  they  pass  the  guns; 
they  round  the  peak.  Up  go  Hook-er  and  his  brave 
men  ;  and  for  hours  the  fire  is  kept  up  on  both  sides. 
There  are  two  or  three  sharp  fights,  but  at  last  they 
drive  the  foe  from  their  walls  and  pits,  and  get  a  foot- 
hold on  a  piece  of  flat-land.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  day 
it  was  too  dark  to  keep  up  the  fight.  The  clouds  hung 
low.  A  thick  fog  rose  from  the  vale.  The  guns  sent 
forth    flame    and    smoke.      Now    and    then,    as    the    fog 


66  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 

rose  or  fell,  a  flag  could  be  seen.  Now  and  then  a  flash 
through  the  clouds  gave  a  hint  of  where  the  fight  was 
and  how  it  went  on. 

At  four  o'clock  Hook-er  sent  word  to  his  chief  that 
the  prize  was  won.  Look-out  Moun-tain  was  theirs! 
and  the  hills  shook  with  the  fire  of  joy  the  guns 
sent  forth. 

And  where  was  Grant  all  this  time  ?  At  Or-chard 
knoll,  which  was  on  a  low  range  of  hills  half  way  'twixt 
Chat-ta-noo-ga  and  Mis-sion-a-ry  Ridge.  From  this 
point  he  could  see  all  that  took  place,  and  could  send 
help  to  those  who  were  in  need  of  it.  But  though 
much  had  been  done  there  was  still  much  to  do.  The 
foe,  with  Bragg  at  their  head,  were  still  in  force  on 
Mis-sion-a-ry  Ridge.  Sher-man  and  his  troops  were  on 
a  spur  of  this  ridge,  but  a  deep  gorge  lay  twixt  him  and 
the  point  of  the  hill  where  Bragg  and  his  corps  were. 

Not  a  house,  not  a  tree,  nor  so  much  as  a  fence  was 
to  be  seen  in  the  vale,  which  had  been  made  in-to  one 
great  camp-ground.  All  the  troops  were  on  the  hills, 
where  earth-works,  and  breast-works  of  logs,  had  been 
thrown  up  to  make  each  point  as  strong  as  a  fort. 

On  the  24th  of  No-vem-ber,  in  the  night,  the  foe 
leave   Look-out   Moun-tain,  cross   Chat-ta-noo-ga  creek, 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.    GRANT.  67 

burn  each  bridge,  and  set  their  camps  on  fire,  and 
make  their  way  to  Mis-sion-a-ry  Ridge  to  swell  Bragg' s 
force. 

At  dawn  of  the  25th  Grant  had  all  his  troops  in 
place,  and  soon  the  horn  was  blown  that  told  them  all 
to  charge  on  the  foe.  Sher-man,  was  still  on  a  hill 
near  the  main  ridge,  and  on  the  right  flank  of  Bragg's 
corps. 

Cock-rell,  Al-ex-an-der,  and  Light-burn  were  to  hold 
this  hill;  Corse  was  to  act  on  the  right  of  the  front; 
Mor-gan  L.  Smith  was  to  move  on  the  east  base  of 
the  ridge;  and  Loo-mis  on  the  west  base.  Up  the  face 
of  the  hill  went  this  great  force  of  troops ;  up  to  one 
end  of  the  earth -works  from  which  they  drove  the 
boys  in  gray,  till  they  got  firm  foot-hold  on  the  crest 
of  the  ridge. 

Sher-man  kept  up  such  a  close  fire  on  the  right  flank 
that  Bragg  had  to  turn  his  front  that  way.  This  gave 
Grant  the  right  kind  of  a  chance.  He  was  in  hopes 
that  just  such  a  move  would  take  place.  Hook-er  had 
made  haste  down  from  the  top  of  Look-out  but  had  had 
to  stop  at  Chick-a-mau-ga  creek  to  build  the  bridge  the 
foe  had  burnt,  and  so  did  not  come  up  in  time  to  aid 
in  the  as-sault. 


68 


01  'R  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


OKOSS-ING    THE    CHICK-A-MAU-GA. 


All  up  the  ridge,  from  the  base  to  the  top,  were  lines 
ol  pits  full  of  men  and  guns.  The  troops,  as  soon  as 
the  horn  blew,  made  a  dash  at  the  first  line  of  the  foe 
and  took  it  by  storm;  not  a  gun  was  fired.  Up,  up 
they  climb.  Wild  shouts  ring  all  through  the  line. 
Shot  and  shell  ram  on  them  from  the  fort  at  the  top. 
They  have  to  he  down  and  crawl  on  their  hands  and 
knees.  Turn  back  ?  No  !  None  of  the  men  who 
fought  with  Grant  had  such  a  thought  in  their  minds. 
Thev  must  take  what  they  set  out  to  win,  or  die  on 
the  way. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.    S.    GRANT. 


69 


Here  and  there  on  the  heights  a  flag-  is  set.  So 
much  gain.  When  Sher-i-dan  saw  these  flags  go  up  he 
knew  that  the  North  would  win. 

Bragg  and  his  men  fought  hard,  but  when  they  saw 
these  troops  pour  m-to  the  earth-works  in  such  crowds, 
saw  them  rise  at  the  same  time  on  the  top  of  six  hills, 
they  felt  as  if  their  cause  was  lost.  Hosts  of  them 
threw  down  their  arms.  Hosts  of  them  fled  head-long 
down  the  slope.  The  troops  threw  stones  at  them,  as 
they  could  not  take  the  time  to  load  their  guns. 

Bragg  and  his  staff  strove  to  get  their  men  in  line. 
But  all  in  vain.  A  few  came  back,  but  they  could 
not  be  put  to  much  use,  so  in  the  night  they  all  fled 
by  one  of  the  rear  roads,  and  Chat-ta-noo-ga  was  safe. 
The  troops  went  m-to  camp  that  night  with  glad 
hearts,  and  their  cheers  were  heard  for  miles  and 
miles. 


ii&ii-) 


Thom-as  lost 
Sher-man    . 
Hook-er 


4,000,  men. 
1,500,  men. 
1,500,  men. 


7° 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE      BAT-TLE      OF      THE      WIL-DER-NESS. 

The  North  was  loud  in  praise  of  U-lys-ses  S.  Grant. 
His  name  and  fame  were  known  throu^h-out  the  land. 
He  was  made  Lieu-ten-ant  Gen-er-al,  and  had  charge 
of  500.000  men  in  the  field.  Lm-coln  wrote  to  him — 
"  You  have  brave  men,  and  a  just  cause,  and  may  God 
give  you  strength" 

God   did    o-ive   him  strength,  for  no  one  man  could 


GRANTS    HEAD-QUAR-TERS    IN    THE    WIL-DER-NESS. 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  V.   S.   GRANT. 


have  done  what  Grant  did  with-out  the  aid  of  Him 
who  is  an  arm  of  aid  to  the  weak. 

I  did  not  stop  to  tell  you  of  the  fight  at  Knox-ville, 
which  Burn-side  won.  He  drove  Long-street  out  as 
far  as  Rus-sel-ville,  and  tried  his  best  to  get  him  and 
his  men  quite  out  of  East  Ten-nes-see.  But  they  went 
in  camp  for  the  next  three  months,  as  no  more  fights 
could  take  place  till  the  spring  of  the  year. 

On  the  3rd  of  March,  Grant  was  sent  for  to  come 
to  Wash-ing-ton;  and  on  the  10th  he  went  back  to  the 
front.  He  had  been  with  the  Ar-my  of  the  Ten-nes- 
see,  the  Ar-my  of  the  Mis-sis-sip-pi,  the  Ar-my  of  the 
Cum-ber-land,  and  now  he  was  with  new  troops  that 
made  up  the  Ar-my  of  the  Po-to-mac. 

Sher-man  did  not  like  this  change,  and  wrote  to 
Grant:  "Don't  stay  in  Wash-ing-ton.  Come  West.  Let 
us  make  it  dead-sure.  Here  you  are  at  home;  you 
know  your  ground;    you  know  us  and  we  know  you." 

But  Grant  felt  that  he  ought  to  go  to  Vir-gin-i-a,  where 
the  foe  were  now  in  great  force  with  Rob-ert  E.  Lee  at 
their  head.  He  soon  had  his  plans  laid.  "  On  to  Rich- 
mond!" was  the  war-cry  that  rang  through  the  North, 
and  the  hearts  of  men  were  fired  with  fresh  zeal.  IHresh 
troops  were  sent  to  the  front. 


72 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


Through  March  and  A-pril  Grant  was  at  Cul-pep-er, 
whence  he  could  send  word  to  all  the  troops  on  land 
and  sea.  They  were  made  to  close  in  on  the  North, 
the  South,  the  East,  and  the  West,  so  that  in  case  of 
need  they  could  be  brought  well  up  to  the  front  by  a 
quick  march. 

Lee  was  in  a 
strong  place  on  the 
south  bank,  of  the 
Rap-i-dan,  with  the 
Blue  Ridge  at  his 
left.  On  the  right 
was  a  wil-der-ness 
of  trees  where  were 
a  few  roads,  much 
1  i  k  e — f  o  o  t  -  paths 
through  a  lot  of  brush-wood.  At  the  rear  were  Long- 
street  and  his  troops,  some  of  them  on  horse-back. 

Grant's  first  plan  was  to  force  or  tempt  the  foe  out  of 
their  works  to  fight,  so  he  made  a  plunge  in-to  the  Wil- 
der-ness  on  the  4th  of  May,  1864. 

The  Rebs  were  at  once  up  and  in  arms,  and  on  the 
way  to  cut  off  Grant's  line  of  march. 

The  first  shock  took  place  'twixt  War-ren's  corps  and 


CROSS-ING    THE    RAP-I-DAN. 


OUR  HERO  .-— GENERAL  V.   S.   GRANT. 


73 


Ew-ell's  corps  on  the  Or-ange  turn-pike  near  the  Old  Wil- 
der-ness  Inn,  where  a  fierce  fight  raged  mid  die  scrub- 
oaks  and  low  pines  whose  roots  ran  on  top  of  the  ground. 
It  was  Lee's  plan  to  crush  Grant  at  the  start. 

At  length  some  of  Sedg-wick's  corps  came  up  to  the 
aid  of  War-ren's  men;  and  Han-cock  came  up  on  the 
left  and  fought  with  Hill  who  had  in  the  mean-time  made 


hi 


is  way 


to  Ew-ell's  right. 


Till  eight  o'clock  the 
bat- tie  raged  in  Hill's 
front.  Night  brought  it 
to  an  end.  Grant  made 
up  his  mind  to  charge 
with  all  the  lines  by 
dawn  of  the  next  day. 
But  the  same  plan  was 
in  Lee's  mind,  and  at 
day-light  on  the  5  th  of 
May  he  made  an  on-set 
on  Sedg-wick.  Then 
the  roll  of  the  drum,  and  the  gleam  of  the  guns  on 
Han-cock's  front  told  that  the  line  was  on  the  march 
there.  A  hard  fight  took  place,  and  Han-cock's  corps 
drove  back  the  corps  of  Hill's  for  more  than  a  mile 


5KIR-JIISH-ING    IN'    THE    WIL-DER-NESS. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


By  this  time  fresh  troops  had  brought  fresh  strength 
to  both  sides.  Long-street  came  up  to  the  aid  of  Hill; 
and  Burn -side  to  help  War-ren  and  Han -cock.  All 
through  the  day  it  was  a  dead-lock  fight,  in  which  the 
loss  was  great  on  both  sides.  The  woods  took  fire, 
and  the  blaze  swept  close  up  to  the  breast-works,  which 
were  of  wood,  and  soon  a  mass  of  flames.  Red  hot 
tongues  of  fire  leaped  round  the  legs  of  the  men  as 
they  fought.  The  heat  and  smoke  drove  some  of  Han- 
cock's men  from  a  point  they  had  held.  This  made  a 
break  in  the  line.  The  foe  rush  up  and  plant  their  flags 
on  the  breast-works,  but  do  not  stay  long.  Car-roll,  with 
Bir-ney's  corps,  puts  them  to  route,  and  thus  they  fight, 
to  and  fro,  on  this  strange  field. 

Lee  knew  the  ground.  He  was  at  home  there.  But 
it  was  new  to  Grant  and  his  men.  They  did  not  know 
where  the  roads  were,  nor  to  what  place  they  led.  Yet 
in  spite  of  this  they  made  out  to  keep  Lee  back,  and 
drove  him  at  last  as  far  as  Spott-syl-va-ni-a.  This  was 
on  the  6th  of  May,  and  the  next  da}'  when  scouts  were 
sent  out  they  found  the  gray  coats  as  thick  as  the  blue  on 
the  field  that'  for  three  days  had  been  the  scene  of  such 
a  hard  fight.  There  were  no  signs  of  life.  Some  had 
been   shot   dead,  and    those  who  had  met  with  wounds 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  V.   S.   GRAXT. 


were  choked  by  the  smoke  and  flames  that  raged  around 
them. 

On  the  night  of  the  7th  Grant  and  Meade,  with  their 
aides-de-camp,  took  up  their  line  of  march  to  Rich-mond. 
The  troops  had  thought  they  would  have  to  turn  back 
and  cross  the  Rap-i-dan,  and  this  did  not  please  them. 
The  word  went  from  man  to  man  that  Grant  had  his  face 
set  to-ward  Rich-mond.  Stiff  and  sore  as  they  were  and 
spite  of  their  wounds  they  made  the  Wil-der-ness  ring 
with  cheers. 

They  could  not  see  the  face  of  their  chief.  Most  of 
them  did  not  know  him  at  all.  But  this  move  ^ave  them 
cheer;  for  they  knew  that  he  had  not  lost  hope,  and 
would  lead  them  on  to  win  the  prize  for  which  they 
fought,  and  bring  peace  to  the  land. 

So  long  and  loud  were  their  shouts  that  the  Rebs,  who 
were  quite  near,  thought  it  was  a  night  at-tack,  and  came 
out  to  the  front,  and  the  noise  of  their  guns  chimed  in 
with  the  cheers  that  Han-cocks  men  gave  to  Grant. 

Spott-syl-va-ni-a  lav  'twixt  the  Po  and  the  Ny,  two 
small  streams  that  were  but  three  or  four  miles  a-part.  A 
thick  growth  of  woods  was  on  their  banks,  and  a  stretch 
of  swamp-land  in  front.  Hills  and  dales  were  all  round, 
and  at  the  south  a  range  of    hills,  on    the  crest  of  which 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 


were  earth-works  with  great  trees  laid  in  front  in  such  a 
way  as  to  screen  them  from  the  foe.  You  wrill  see  by 
this  in  what  a  strong-hold  Lee  and  his  troops  were,  and 
how  hard  a  task  it  would  be  for  Grant  to  drive  them 
out.  Spott-syl-va-ni-a  was  right  in  Grant's  path,  and 
it  he  got  to  Rich-mond  at  all,  he  would  have  to  turn 
Lee's  lines,  or  to  hem  him  in  so  that  he  would  have  to 
give  up  the  fight. 

Lee  was  a  brave 
man,  and  a  great  chief. 
The  South  had  great 
faith  in  him.  He  had 
a  deep  hold  on  their 
hearts.  Should  he  fail 
them,  their  cause  would 
in  deed  be  lost.     The 

eves  of  the  whole  N  orth 

j 

WOUND-ED   LKAV-ING  THE   B AT-TI.F.  OF  THE  WIL-DER-NESS         £ll~ld      SOLlth    WCTC    tUmed 

to  this  place,  where  these  two  men  stood,  as  it  were, 
face  to  face. 

For  ten  days  Grant  sought  in  vain  to  pierce  or  take 
Lee's  strong-hold.  It  was  from  Spott-syl-va-ni-a  that 
Grant  sent  this  word  that  has  won  such  fame:  " / pro- 
pose to  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  Sum-mer." 


OUR  HERO  .■— GENERAL  U.  S.   GRANT. 


Now  and  then  a  point  was  won,  and  then  lost.  Right 
and  left  the  fight  went  on  tilt  the  woods  were  set  on  fire, 
and  Grant's  troops  had  to  fall  back. 

On  the  night  of  the  i  ith  oi  May  the  2nd  corps  were 
brought  as  near  as  they  could  get  to  the  earth-works 
they  were  to  storm,  and  at  dawn  of  the  next  day  with 
cheers  and  shouts  they  went  up  the  steep,  tore  down  the 
trees,  and  with  a  dash  swept  in  on  the  foe.  Here  they 
had  a  hand-to-hand  fight ;  took  a  large  part  of  Ew-elFs 
corps,  and  drove  the  rest  of  them  for  the  space  of  half 
a  mile.  Here  they  found  a  new  line  of  breast- works. 
Lee  sent  a  large  force  to  take  the  lost  ground,  and  Han- 
cock's men  had  to  make  their  way  back  to  the  line  oi 
works  they  had  first  seized.  There  Grant's  troops  held 
their  own,  and  day  by  day  made  such  fierce  at-tacks 
on  Lee  that  the  ground  was  strewn  with  the  dead;  some 
in  blue  and  some  in  gray. 

"Push  on — push  hard,"  said  Grant,  who  was  bound 
not  to  let  go  when  he  had  a  good  grip.  And  push  on 
they  did,  with  a  good  will  and  a  strong  will  till  Lee  had 
to  fall  back  and  leave  the  field. 

Brave  men  fought  on  both  sides  at  the  Wil-der-ness  and 
at  Spott-syl-va-ni-a.  Grant  lost  13,601  men,  Lee's  loss 
is  not  known,  but  is  thought  to  have  been  full  as  great. 


OUR  HERO  .■—  GENERAL   U.   S.    GRANT. 


CHAPTER    X. 


BY      THE      LEFT- FLANK, 


Sher-i-dan,  who  led  the  troops  that  were  on  horse- 
back, had  made  a  raid  on  Lees  lines,  put  Stu-art  to 
flight,  and  then  made  a  dash  on  the  out-works  of  Rich- 
mond. In  the  vale  ol  the  Shen-an-do-ah,  Si-gel  had 
fought,  but  shown  no  skill,  and  Hun-ter  was  sent  to 
take  his  place.  On  the  line  of  the  James,  But-ler  had 
had  a  hard  fight  with  Beau-re-gard,  in  which  he  met 
with  great  loss  and  had  to  draw  back  to  a  place  known 
as  Ber-mu-da  Hun-dred,  whence  he  sent  troops  to 
Grant,  while   Beau-re-gard   sent  troops  to   Lee. 

The  foes  next  met  at  Chick-a-hom-i-ny,  a  wide 
marsh,  where  a  host  of  boys  in  blue  had  found  their 
graves  when  they  were  in  camp  there  the  first  two  years 
of  the  war. 

Thick  pine  woods  and  a  dense  growth  of  shrubs 
and  of  dwarf  trees  hedge  in  the  foe.  The  hills  are 
not  high,  but  here  and  there  is  a  deep  gorge  which 
serves  to  keep  at  bay  the  boys  in  blue. 

Sharp  fights  took   place  on  the  road  as  Grants  men 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


79 


DEATH    OF    GEX-ER-AL    SEDG-WICK. 


came  up  from  Spott-syl-va-ni-a. 
They  had  to  cross  the  North 
An-na,  and  the  Pa-mun-kev. 
Sher-i-dan  was  sent  to  find 
out  where  Lee  was.  Gregg's 
corps  was  with  him.  They 
came  on  a  troop  of  horse  and 
of  men,  at  a  place  near  Me- 
chan-ics-ville.  Here  a  sharp 
fight  took  place,  and  both  sides 
held  their  own.  Late  in  the  day  Cus-ter  came  up,  and 
with  the  aid  of  Gregg's  corps  made  a  fierce  at-tack, 
drove  the  Rebs  out  of  their  line  ol  works,  and  forced 
them  to  leave  their  dead  on  the   field. 

On  the  31st  of  May,  Sher-i-dan — of  whose  brave 
deeds  I  am  sure  you  will  like  to  read — had  got  as  far 
as  Old  Cold  Har-bor,  where  he  found  a  force  of  men 
on  horse  and  on  foot,  back  of  breast-works  of  logs  and 
rails.  He  had  a  hard  fight,  but  at  last  drove  the  foe 
from  the  place.  But  they  soon  came  back,  and  with 
such  a  large  force,  that  Sher-i-dan  thought  that  he  could 
not  hold  the  prize.  But  ere  he  could  move  out,  he  was 
met  by  word  from  Grant  to  hold  the  place  at  all  risks. 
So   he  went  to  work  to  guard   the  place  — and  to  make 


8o 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


FORD-ING   THE    NORTH    AN-NA. 


it  as  strong-  as 
he  could — and  to 
wait  for  the  at- 
tack which  they 
heard  the  foe 
plan  to  make  the 
next  morn. 

At  day-light 
on  the  i  st  of 
June,  the  Rebs 
in  front  of  Sher- 
i-dan  charge  on  the  works  he  has  won.  He  lets  them 
come  up  quite  close,  and  then  pours  on  them  such 
a  fire  that  they  fall  back  in  great  haste.  Once  more 
they  strive  to  take  the  place,  but  Sher-i-dan  holds  fast. 
The  Sixth  corps,  which  Grant  had  sent  to  his  aid, 
should  have  been  at  Cold  Har-bor  at  day-light,  but  the 
road  was  long,  and  it  was  nine  o'clock  ere  they  came 
in  siQrht. 

For  four  hours  Sher-i-dan  had  kept  up  the  fight, 
though  the  foe  had  far  more  men  than  he  had,  and  as 
soon  as  the  Sixth  corps  came  to  help  him,  Old  Cold 
Har-bor  was  lost  to  Lee. 

Mean-while     Lee    kept    his    troops    on    a    line    with 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


Grant's,  and   at  each  fresh    move   on   his  part    met   him 
with  a  fierce   fire   of  shot   and   shell. 

A  mile  and  a  hall  west  of  Old  Cold  Har-bor,  on  the 
road  to  Rich-mond,  is  a  long,  low  hill  that  ends  in  a 
swamp,  at  the  south  side  near  the  Chick-a-hom-i-nv. 
On  the  north  side  a  deep  gorge  here  and  there  breaks 
the  slope.  The  right  flank  of  Lee's  troops  was  on  the 
crest  of  this  ndoe.  There  was  no  need  for  them  to 
throw  up  earth-works,  or  to  do  the  least  thing  to  make 
their  strong-hold  safe.  They  were  shut  in  on  all  sides, 
and  those  who  would  dare  to  come  near  them  would 
meet  the  full  force  of   their  guns. 

At  half-past  four  a.m., 
on  the  3rd  of  June,  the 
line  on  the  left  —  the 
6th,  the  1 8th,  and  the 
2nd  corps,  set  out  to 
break  Lee's  line.  But 
though  they  fought  hard 
all  day,  they  did  not 
make  much   head-way. 

When  Grant  found  that  he  could  not  get  to  Rich- 
mond by  this  route,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  cross  the 
James  and  lay  siege  to  Pe-ters-burs-,  which  you  will  sec 


82 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


RAIL    TIF.     BAR-RI-CADE. 


by  the  map  is  just  south 
of,  and  right  on  a  line 
with,    Rich-mond. 

All  the  rail-roads  that 
led  to  Rich-mond  were 
in  the  hands  of  the  foe; 
a  laro-e  fleet  of  Qam-boats 
and  rams  were  in  front 
of  the  town;  and  the 
bed  of  the  James  was 
full  of  strange  craft  that  would  blow  up  all  boats  which 
came  up  the  stream.  From  Dru-ry's  Bluff  it  winds  its 
way  in  great  curves  to  Cit-y  Point,  where  it  is  more  than 
half  a  mile  wide.  There  was  but  one  point  where  Grant 
could  cross  the  James,  and  that  was  a  long  way  from  Cold 
Har-bor.  His  troops  would  have  to  march  at  least 
three-score  miles,  and  be  in  fear  all  the  time,  that  the  foe 
might  rush  out  on  them  and  stop  their  course. 

Lee  was  on  the  watch  all  the  time,  and  the  boys  in 
blue  could  not  make  the  least  move  that  was  not  seen  bv 
him.  But  he  was  not  quite  so  bold  as  Grant,  and  did 
not  guess  what  his  plans  were. 

It  was  on  the  night  of  the  12th  of  June  that  the  Ar- 
my of   the  Po-to-mac  took  up  its  line  of  march.      In  the 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


dark  they  had  to  plough  their  way  through  swamps,  climb 
the  great  drift-logs,  and  cross  the  Chick-a-hom-i-nv  at 
Long  Bridge.     There  was  no  bridge  there,  so  they  had  to 

make  use  of  the  limbs 
of  the  trees  that  hung 
down  o'er  the  stream, 
and  in  this  way  got  a 
foot-hold  on  the  south 
bank.  Then  a  bridge 
of  boats  was  laid  so 
that  the  men  on  foot 
and  on  horse-back  could 
cross  with  speed,  and 
soon  the  whole  force 
was  on  its  way  to  the  James  by  the  roads  that  led  through 
\\  hite  Oak  Swamp.  A  sharp  fight  took  place  at  Rid- 
dle's shop. 

The  North  had  a  fleet  of  gun-boats  to  guard  the 
James  from  its  mouth  to  Ber-mu-da  1  lun-dred,  but  Grant 
did  not  think  they  could  hold  the  stream.  So  on  the 
night  of  the  [3th  he  sent  word  to  But-ler  to  fill  a  lot  of 
boats  with  stone,  and  sink  them  so  that  no  boats  from 
Ricn-mond  could  come  down  and  seize  the  stores,  or 
check  the  march  of  the  bovs  in  blue.    But-ler  had  had  a  lot 


TAV-EKJJ    A'l     COLD    H.\K-iSOK. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


THE    CH1CK-A-H0M-I-NY    SWAMPS. 


of  boats  filled  with  stone,  as  he  thought  there  might  be 
need  of  them,  but  it  was  not  his  place  to  put  them  in  the 
stream  till  his  chief  told  him  to  do  so.  When  the  word 
came  no  time  was  lost. 

Grant  sent  word  to  Lin-coln  that  his  plan  was  to  reach 
Pe-ters-burg,  where  he  could  bring  troops  in  front  of  the 
town  with  more  speed  than  Lee  could.  "  I  think  your 
plan  a  good  one,"  Lin-coln  wrote  back.  "  You  are  sure 
to  win.      God  bless  you  all." 

But  there  was  a  o-reat  hue  and  cry  at  the  North  when 
they  found  out  that  Grant  was  on  the  way  to  Pe-ters-burg 
and  not  to  Rich-mond.     They  did  not  know,  as  he  did, 


(>l~R  HERO :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


that  to  crush  Lee  was  to  crush  the  South.  At  this  time 
there  was  but  a  small  force  of  men  on  guard  in  Peters- 
burg. Beau-re-gard's  force  was  in  front  of  Ber-mu-da 
Hun-dred.  Lee  and  his  troops  were  north  of  the  James. 
By  a  quick  and  prompt  at-tack  Grant  was  in  hopes  to 
take  the  town. 

One  who  was  with  him  tells  of  the  scene  on  the  banks 
of  the  James  :  "  At  Wil-cox's  Land-ing,  where  the  troops 
were  to  cross,  the  stream  was  less  than  half  a  mile  wide. 
In  the  dark  hours  of  the  night  of  June  14th  the  bridge 


CROSSING    1IIK    1  HICK-A   HUM   l-NV    AT    LONG    BRIDGE. 


S6  OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL    U.    S.    GRANT. 


of  boats  was  built,  and  at  mid-night  the  men  took  up 
their  march,  with  the  great  field  guns,  and  by  day-light 
the  whole  of  the  Second  corps  was  safe  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  stream.  It  took  all  that  day  for  the  Ar-my 
of  the  Po-to-mac  to  cross  the  James.  The  banks  were 
lined  with  troops.  On  the  great  bridge  of  boats  was  a 
stream  of  men  on  foot  and  on  horse-back — of  great  guns 
on  wheels,  and  of  huge  carts  full  ol  the  tools  of  war. 
The  guns  shone  bright  in  the  light  of  the  sun.  The 
flags  were  gay.  To  and  fro  went  the  aides-de-camp  on 
horse-back.  On  one  side  were  the  gun-boats.  Down 
the  stream  a  fleet  was  in  sight  with  more  troops  on 
board  ;  and  the  roar  of  Wil-son's  and  War-ren's  guns 
were  heard  as  they  kept  guard  at  the  rear." 

The  troops  have  to  pass  through  woods  where  there 
are  no  roads,  and  through  low  swamp-lands  where  the 
wheels  sink  deep  in  the  mire.  Still  the)'  press  on,  and 
by  day-break  the  head  of  the  line  comes  up  with  the 
out-o-uards  of  the  foe.  At  six  o'clock,  as  they  near  the 
Cit-y  Point  road,  they  are  met  by  a  fire  of  guns  from  a 
fort  on  Bay -lor's  farm,  six  miles  from  Pe-ters-burg.  Here 
there  was  a  sharp  fight,  but  at  the  end  of  two  hours  the 
Rebs  were  put  to  flight,  and  by  noon  Grant's  whole  force 
was  in  front  of  Pe-ters-burg. 


OUR  HERO .-—  GENERAL   U.   S.    GJiA.\T. 


- 


A    RAM    OX    THE     [AMES    RIV-ER. 


The  men  could 
move  but  a  few 
rods  at  a  time  ere 
they  came  in  range 
of  the  guns  of  the 
foe.  Then  they 
would  have  to  he 
down  and  wait  for 
the  next  chance. 
Soon  they  would  rise,  push  on  a  few  rods,  and  then  he 
down  once  more.  This  was  slow  work,  of  course,  and  it 
was  half-past  one  when  they  came  to  the  ground  from 
which  the  first  at-tack  was  to  be  made.  Here  the\r  lay 
for  five  long  hours,  while  the  great  guns  from  the  forts 
kept  up  their  roar  and  sent  their  shells  right  at  them. 
This  was  a  great  strain  on  the  nerves  of  the  men. 

\Y.  F.  Smith  was  at  the  head  of  the  boys  in  blue,  and 
at  the  end  of.  the  five  hours  he  sent  out  more  than  half 
his  troops  to  charge  on  the  works  on  the  Cit-y  Point 
and  Prince  George  Court-house  roads.  They  were  met 
by  a  sharp  fire,  but  the  troops  forced  their  way  in  to  the 
works  which  were  on  the  crest  of  a  deep  wild  gorge. 
Kid-doo's  black  troops  were  the  first  to  gam  the  hill. 
The  foe,  borne  down  in   front  and  flank,  gave  way,  and 


Ul'R  HERO  .—  GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT. 


irk     11 


l!jte^n^F#| 


CROSS-IXG    THE    JAMES    RIV-ER    ON    PON-TOON    BRIDG-ES. 

at  dusk  Smith  had  seized  the  whole  line  of  the  out- 
works, two  and  a  half  miles  long,  with  a  lot  of  men  and 
guns.  Pe-ters-burg  was  in  his  grasp.  There  was  no 
force  'twixt  him  and  the  Ap-po-mat-tox,  but  a  part  of 
the  corps,  led  by  Gen-er-al  Wise,  and  the  town  troops, 
made  up  of  old  men  and  boys. 

Han-cock,  Bir-nev,  and  Gib-bon  were  soon  on  their 
way  to  aid  Smith,  who  it  was  thought  would  push  to  the 
front,  and  seize  Pe-ters-burg.  But  he  was  a  slow  man, 
and  did  not  like  to  take  the  risk.  He  thought  it  best  to 
wait  till  the  next  day. 

Grant  was  at  Cit-v  Point  so  as  to  be  near  But-ler  and 
Meade,  and  it  was  near  day-light,  on  the  1 6th,  when  he 
heard  that  Smith  was  at  a  stand-still.  He  rode  out  at 
once  to  Pe-ters-bure.      But  by  this  time  Lee  was  on  the 


OL7?  HERO 


GENERAL   U.   S.    GRANT. 


89 


i 


ipi$$^ 


S; 


HIAHliK    AT    I'K-TKKS-l'.l'Ki;. FIRST    DAY. 


move,  and  Beau-re-gard  had  sent  word  to  Rich-mond 
that  he  must  have  more  troops  or  he  could  not  hold  both 
Pe-ters-burg  and  the  lines  in  front  of  But-ler.  The  prize 
that  might  have  been  won  by  Smith's  corps  at  small 
eost,  would  now  be  hard  to  take. 

The  town  was  in  charge,  not  of  old  men  and  boys, 
but  of  strong  men,  full  oi  skill,  some  of  whom  had  been 
to  West  Point  to  learn  the  art  of   war. 

Grant  at  once  brought  his  force  up  to  the  front  as 
he    meant    to   storm   the    town   at  six   o'clock    that   niSfht. 


90  OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


Meade  was  put  in  charge  of  all  the  troops  in  front  of 
Pe-ters-burg.  At  the  first  charge  Han-cock  drove  the 
foe  back,  and  as  it  was  a  fine  moon-light  night  the  fight 
was  kept  up,  and  the  foe  tried  hard  to  get  back  the 
ground  they  had  lost.      But  in  vain. 

For  two  days  more  the  fight  went  on.  Now  the 
Ninth  corps  won  a  strong-hold,  and  then  lost  it.  Fresh 
troops  were  sent  to  their  aid,  but  they  could  not  get  back 
what  they  had  lost.  Wright  did  not  think  thev  could 
hold  the  works  if  they  should  seize  them.  Pe-ters-burg 
was  still  in  the  hands  of  Lee. 

Meade  tried  his  best  to  urge  his  men  on.  "  Get  the 
best  line  you  can,"  he  said,  "and  make  up  your  minds 
to  hold  it." 

At  ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  i  8th,  Grant  said  to 
Meade,  "  All  has  been  done  that  could  be  done.  Now 
we  will  rest  the  men,  and  use  the  spade — till  a  new  vein 
can  be  struck." 

Then  Grant  went  to  work  to  hem  in  Pe-ters-burg,  as 
he  did  Vicks-burg,  to  seize  all  the  rail-roads,  and  put  the 
town  in  a  state  of  siege.  All  this  would  take  time,  but 
the  men  were  worn  out  and  had  need  of  rest,  and  it  was 
well  to  wait. 

On   the   21st  of  June,  Lin-coln   rode  out  to  the  front 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT. 


91 


of  both  Meade's  and  But-ler's  lines.  On  his  way  back 
he  had  to  pass  through  the  black  troops  who  had  fought 
so  well  in  the  first  charge  on  Pe-ters-burg.  They  crowd 
round    him   with    tears   in   their   eyes.      They  greet   him 


ll  \ ,1  ill 


.  Ma  -if 


LIN-COLN    THE    BLACK    MANS    FRIEND. 


with  cheers  and  cries  of  joy.  Fie  is  their  friend.  These 
men  were  slaves.  lie  set  them  free.  They  laugh,  they 
cry.  They  press  up  to  him  to  shake  or  kiss  his  hand, 
to  touch  his  clothes,  or  the  horse  on  which  he  rode.  It 
was  a  sight  to  move   strong  men. 

Lin-coln  rode  by  the  black  men  with  his  hat  off  too 
full  of  tears  (not  of  grief,  but  of  joy)  to  trust  him-seli 
to  speak. 


92  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER     XL 

THE      SIEGE      OF      PE-TERS-B  URG. 

On  the  night  of  the  21st  of  June,  the  2nd  and  6th 
corps  were  in  front  of  a  large  force  of  the  foe. 

On  the  22  nd,  Bir-ney,  who  had  charge  of  the  2nd 
corps  was  sent  to  the  left,  where  he  could  cross  the  Wel- 
don  road  and  then  get  round  to  the  Ap-po-mat-tox,  a 
stream  which  runs  north  of  the  town.  Wright  was  sent 
to  the  left,  not  by  the  same  road  as  Bir-ney,  and  soon 
found  some  of  the  foe  with  whom  he  had  a  sharp  fight. 
Bar-low  had  been  sent  to  add  strength  to  Bir-ney' s  line, 
and  a  part  ot  Hill's  corps  came  in  the  gap  twixt  him 
and  Wright,  and  put  his  men  to  rout.  At  the  same 
time  Gibbon,  who  was  on  Bir-ney's  right,  had  a  hot 
fight  with  the  foe  who  drove  his  men  back  with  the  loss 
of  four  of  their  guns. 

This  took  place  late  in  the  day.  There  was  no  great 
gain  to  North  or  South,  and  in  the  night  Lee  fell  back 
to   his  works. 

On  the  20th  word  came  from  Ab-er-crom-bie,  who 
had  been  left  at  White  House,  that  a  large  force  of   the 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT.  y3 


Rebs  had  made  an  at-tack  on  him.  Grant  told  him  to 
hold  out  at  all  risks  for  Sher-i-dan  was  at  hand. 

Beau-re-gard  and  Lee  were  as  keen  and  as  full  ol 
craft  as  Grant  and  Meade.  Troops  had  been  sent  at 
once  to  stop  Sher-i-dan  on  the  rail-road,  and  then  to  the 
White  House,  so  that  he  could  not  cross  the  Pa-mun- 
key.  Breck-en-ndge  and  Ear-ly  were  first  sent  to  Gor- 
dons-ville,  and  then  to  Lynch-burg,  to  meet  and  chase 
Hun-ter,  whom  Grant  had  sent  to  West  Vir-gin-i-a,  and 
who  was  now  on  his  way  back  to  the  main  line. 

On  the  21st,  But-ler  threw  a  bridge  of  boats  a-cross 
the  James,  and  made  his  way  to  Deep  Bot-tom,  ten  miles 
from  Rich-mond,  on  the  north  side.  This  was  done  to 
get  a  foot-hold  on  the  north  bank  of  the  stream,  and  to 
put  Lee  in  doubt  as  to  Grants  plans.  At  the  same 
time  \\  il-son  went  on  his  raid  to  seize  all  the  rail-roads 
he  could  lay  hands  on,  and  the  news  came  in  that  White 
House  was  safe,  for  Sher-i-dan  was  there. 

White  House  had  been  the  base  where  all  the  stores 
were  kept  for  use  in  the  Ar-my  ol  the  Po-to-mac. 
When  Sher-i-dan  came  to  this  place  he  found  a  note 
from  Grant  that  told  him  to  leave  the  place,  move  the 
teams,  and  cross  the  Chick-a-hom-i-ny  at  Jones's  bridge. 

On  the  24th  he  was  on  his  way. 


94 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


To  reach  the  bridge  of  boats  at  Deep  Bot-tom  where 
he  could  cross  the  James,  he  would  have  to  march  as 
far  as  Charles  Cit-y  Court-house,  and  then  by  Har-ri- 
son's  Land-ing  and  Mal-vern  Hill,  where  the  foe  were. 
The  train  that  Sher-i-dan  had  charge  of  was  ten  miles 
long. 

As  Tor-bert's  corps  went  out  on  the  Court-house  road 
they  fell  in  with  the  foe,  who  drove  them  so  they  had  to 
cross  Her-nno-  creek  on  the  road  to  West-over  church. 
As  soon  as  Sher-i-dan  heard  of  this,  he  cried  "Halt!" 
and  the  whole  train  came  to  a  stand-still.  Then  he  sent 
word  to  Tor-bert  to  push  to  the  front  and  meet  the  foe, 
while  Gregg",  who  was  on  the  ritxht  flank  of  the  trains, 
and  who  had  met  the  foe  on  that  side,  was  to  hold  fast 
till  all  the  carts  could  pass  the  Court-house.  Then  the 
train  moved  on,  and  on  the  26th  of  June  was  safe  at  the 
north  of  the  James,  and  not  a  horse  or  cart  was  lost. 

At  St.  Ma-ry's  church 
Gregg  had  a  hard  fight  with 
H amp-ton,  which  was  kept  up 
till  dark,  and  from  which  he 
had  to  fall  back,  though  with 
no  great  loss. 

For    some    days     the    heat 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRAM.  95 


was  so  oreat  that  the  men  had  no  strength  to  fi^ht. 
There  was  no  rain,  and  clouds  of  dust  rose  thick  on  the 
air.  The  troops  were  in  need  of  rest,  and  Grant  had  a 
chance  to  look  round  and  work  out  the  plan  he  had 
had  in  his  mind  for  some  time. 

Sher-man  was  in  the  heart  of  Geor-gi-a,  and  his  wants 
must  he  seen  to.  Troops  must  be  sent  to  Sher-i-dan. 
Wil-son  might  need  help.  Hun-ter,  as  soon  as  he  could 
get  out  of  the  net  in  which  he  was  caught,  was  to  start 
for  Char-lottes-ville,  to  tear  up  the  road   at  that   place. 

On  the  28th  of  June  Meade  sent  word  to  Grant  that  a 
large  force  of  the  Rebs  on  horse-back  had  been  seen  to 
pass  to  the  left  and  the  rear  on  the  Wel-don  road.  It 
was  thought  their  plan  was  to  come  in  'twixt  Sher-i-dan 
and  Wil-son.  Wil-son  had  not  been  heard  from  for 
some  time,  and  it  was  not  known  just  where  he  was. 
On  the  22  nd  of  June  he  had  set  out  from  Prince  George 
Court-house,  with  a  large  force  of  men. 

Kautz  had  the  lead  and  went  at  once  to  Reams, where 
he  broke  up  the  road  and  the  house  that  stood  there. 
I  hence  by  Din-wid-die  Court-house  to  the  south  side 
road.  Here  the  rear  of  the  line  was  set  on  by  a  troop 
of  horse — \Y.  b.  Lees  corps — but  no  great  fight  took 
place. 


96 


OUR  HERO .■— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


Kautz  was  at  Ford's  by  four  p.m.,  and  here  he  seized 
cars,  burnt  the  house,  the  tanks,  and  the  cross-ties,  and 
tore  up  the  rails  for  miles  and  miles,  while  Wil-son's  own 
corps  tore  up  and  burnt  the  rails  from  Six-teen-mile 
Turn-out  to  Ford's. 


DK-STROY-IKG    A    K.MI.-Ki  i.\n. 


On  the  23rd  Kautz  came  to  the  point  where  the  Dan- 
ville and  South-side  roads  cross.  It  was  thought  the 
South  would  fight  hard  to  keep  this  road,  as  it  was  worth 
a  great  deal  to  them.  Kautz  soon  drove  back  the  force 
that  was  there,  and  set  his  men  to  burn  the  house  and 
the  tanks,  and  to  tear  up  the   roads. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  97 


They  would  lav  fence-rails  length-wise  on  the  road  and 
set  fire  to  them.  I  his  would  make  the  steel  rails  warp 
and  swell  and  so  spoil  the  ties  that  both  roads  were  of 
no  use. 

Wil-son  came  up  to  aid  in  this  work,  and  at  Not-to- 
way  Court-house  had  a  sharp  fight  with  W.  F.  Lee,  who 
got  in  twixt  him  and  Kautz.  Wil-son  at  last  drove  back 
the  foe  that  sought  to  stop  him,  and  came  up  with  Kautz 
on  the  Dan-ville  road,  with  the  loss  of  three -score  and 
ten  men. 

On  the  25th  the  whole  force,  with  Kautz  still  in  the 
van,  came  to  Ro-an-oke,  where  there  was  a  bridge  for  the 
Dan-ville  rail-road  to  cross  the  Staun-ton.  They  at  once 
set  out  to  burn  the  north  end  of  the  bridge.  But  the 
Rebs  had  six  guns  on  the  south  bank,  four  lines  of  pits, 
and  a  small  force  from  Dan-ville. 

Wil-son  saw  that  it  would  cost  too  much  to  take  the 
bridge.  The  Rebs  were  close  in  the  rear;  the  Staun-ton 
was  too  dee])  to  ford;  he  had  no  bridge  boats;  and  so 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  turn  back.  This  he  did  in  the 
night,  by  a  road  that  ran  south-east  by  the  bank  of  the 
stream,  and  less  than  half  a  mile  from  the  guns  of  the 
foe  For  the  next  two  days  they  march  due  east,  and 
as  they  near  Sto-ny   Creek,  on  the  Wel-don.  road,  they 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  V.   S.    GRANT. 


f 


m      :,i,    ::■-, 


CAV-AL-RY    FIGHT    AT    REAM  S    STA-TION. 


learn  that  H amp-ton  and  W.    F.   Lee  are  there  in  wait 
for  them. 

Here  a  fierce  fight  takes  place  and  Wil-son's  troops 
are  put  to  rout.  Some  of  them  take  to  the  woods. 
Wil-son  re-forms  his  lines  and  moves  on  to  Ream's. 
The  foe  are  close  at  his  rear,  and  at  Sto-nv  Creek  they 
make  a  hard  push  to  get  up  to  him.  But  though  the 
bridge  is  bad,  and  the  stream  too  deep  to  ford,  and  the 
shot  falls  thick  and  fast  round  their  heads,  they  make  out 
to  cross,  and  with  great  haste  press  on  to  the  Not-to-way, 
which  they  reach  late  at  night.      At  dawn,  on  the  30th. 


OUR  HERO  .■— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT.  99 


they  reach  Jar-rott's  on  the  Wel-don  rail-way.  Wil-son 
learns  that  a  force  has  left  Sto-ny  Creek  to  stop  him  on 
the  Je-ru-sa-lem  road.  On  he  goes  with  haste,  and  is 
soon  at  Black-wa-ter,  where  he  finds  the  bridge  gone,  and 
the  stream  too  deep  to  ford.  He  at  once  sets  his  men 
to  work  to  re-build  the  bridge,  which  is  soon  fit  to  cross. 
But  as  the  wood  has  been  just  burnt  it  gives  way  while 
the  troops  are  on  it,  and  has  to  be  built  up  once  more. 
Twice  this  takes  place,  and  then  the  men  cut  great  beams 
from  the  woods,  put  the  planks  on  them,  and  soon  the 
troops  cross  the  stream.  Then  the  bridge  is  burnt,  and 
none  too  soon,  for  the  foe  are  close  in  the  rear,  and  when 
thev  come  to  the  stream  they  find  the  bridge  gone,  and 
so  give  up  the  chase. 

Wil-son,  now  that  he  was  safe,  let  his  troops  rest  for 
a  tew  hours,  and  then  moved  to  Cab-in  Point,  on  the 
James,  where  he  went  in  camp.  On  the  2nd  of  July 
he  was  at  Light  House  Point.  He  had  been  gone  on 
his  raid  ten  days  and  a  half,  had  had  a  long  march; 
had  been  in  lour  hard  fights;  and  had  torn  up  miles  and 
miles  of  rail-roads.  At  no  place  did  the  troops  rest 
more  than  six  hours,  and  in  the  last  lour  days  did  not 
halt  for  more  than  four  hours  at  a  time. 

Hun-ter  was  on  the  way  to  Lynch-burg,  and  had  had 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.    GRANT. 


more  than  one  fight  with  Ear-ly,  who  kept  close  on  his 
track. 

On  the  3rd  of  Ju-ly,  Breck-en-ridge  was  sent  out  by 
Rob-ert  E.  Lee  to  march  on  Mar-tins-burg,  while  a  large 
force  went  to  the  east  to  Lee-town,  to  check  the  move 
that  Si-gel  would  have  to  make.  As  soon  as  Breck-en- 
ridge  drew  near,  Si-gel  left  Mar-tins-burg,  met  the  van- 
guard of  the  foe  at  Lee-town,  drove  it  back,  and  went 
at  once  to  Ma-ry-land  Heights,  the  hills  that  look  down 
on  Har-per's  Fer-ry. 

The  Rebs  gave  chase  on  the  4  th,  and  on  that  day  the 
boys  in  blue  left  Har-per's  Fer-ry,  burnt  the  rail-roads 
and  bridge  of  boats,  which  they  had  made  use  of  to  cross 
the  Po-to-mac  at  this  point,  and  put  all  their  strength  on 
the  Heights.  It  was  a  strong-hold  in-deed.  The  hills 
were  high  and  steep,  and  on  the  crest  were  guns  of  great 
size,  and  so  the  town  at  their  feet  was  safe  from  the  foe. 

Ear-ly  had  to  fall  back  as  far  as  Shep-herds-town, 
and  cross  the  stream  at  that  point,  and  as  he  found  he 
could  not  move  Si-gel,  he  took  his  march  through  the 
gaps  in  the  hills  north  of  the  Heights,  and  made  his 
stand  at  Fred-er-ick,  on  the  Mon-o-ca-cv.  From  this 
place  he  sent  troops  to  tear  up  the  rail-road  'twixt  Balti- 
more and  Wash-ing-ton. 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


This  bold  act  set  the  whole  North  on  fire.  It  was 
meant  to  scare  them,  and  to  make  Grant  let  go  his  hold. 
Ear-ly  went  as  far  as  Rock-ville  creek,  but  Grant  soon 
had  troops  from  east  and  west  on  his  path,  and  they 
drove  him  back  as  far  as  Stras-burg.  Grant  felt  that 
these  raids  in  Ma-ry-land  must  be  put  a  stop  to  at  once, 
and  as  Wright  could  not  keep  up  with  Ear-ly  or  do  him 
harm,  he  sent  for  him  and  the  Sixth  corps  to  come  back 
as  soon  as  they  could  to  the  lines  in  front  of  Peters- 
burg. 

But  Hun-ter  had  sent  word  to  Lin-coln  that  if  he  was 
to  hold  the  rail-road  and  keep  back  Ear-ly  he  must  have 
Wright  to  help  him.  This  word  was  sent  to  Grant,  and 
though  it  would  thwart  his  plans,  he  sent  word  back  that 
it  would  suit  him  best  to  have  a  smash  up  of  the  roads 
round  Gor-dons-ville  and  Char-lottes-ville.  "If  Wright 
and  Hun-ter  can  do  this  job,  let  them  do  it." 

One  mile  from  Pe-ters-burg;,  in  a  straight  line,  was  a 
deep  gorge,  which  some  of  the  troops  near  there  thought 
would  be  a  good  place  to  start  a  mine  to  blow  up  the 
town.  So  they  went  to  work  with  spade  and  pick,  all 
the  tools  they  had,  and  by  the  last  of  Ju-lv  the  mine  was 
dug  and  the  charge  was  laid. 

At  half-past  three  on  the  morn  of  the  30th,  Burn-side 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U,   S.   GRANT. 


PICK-ETS    TRA   DING     BE-TWEEN    THE    LINES 


was  to  spring  the  mine,  move  his  lines  with  speed  up 
through  the  breach,  seize  the  crest  of  the  hill  in  the  rear, 
and  make  a  strong-hold  of  that  place.  Ord  was  to  come 
up  on  his  right,  War-ren  on  his  left,  and  all  the  plans 
were  laid  so  that  it  would  turn  out  well.  Meade  was  in 
charge  of  all  the  troops. 

As  the  hour  drew  near  Burn-side  said  that  as  the 
white  troops  were  in  need  of  rest,  the  black  troops 
ought  to  take  the  lead  in  the  pass.  They  were  fresh, 
and  had  done  no  work  in  the  mine,  while  some  of  the 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


IC3 


white  men  were  quite  worn  out.      Meade  did  not  like 
this  plan.      The  black   troops   had  done  well  when   put 

on  guard,  but  they 
did  not  know  how 
to  fight.  It  was  a 
new  thing  to  them, 
but  they  did  the 
best  they  could. 
Burn-side  thought 
his  way  was  the 
right  one,  and  so 
lots  were  drawn 
to  see  which  of  the 
three — Burn-side,  War-ren,  or  Led-lie — should  take  the 
lead.  The  lot  fell  on  Led-lie,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the  black  troops. 

On  the  night  of  the  30th  of  July  the  match  was  lit, 
but  the  mine  was  not  sprung.  There  was  some  thing 
wrong.  Two  brave  men,  Lieu-ten-ant  Dough-ty  and 
Ser-geant  [sar-jeni)  Rees,  of  the  48th  Penn-syl-va-ni-a, 
went  in  the  mine,  and  found  the  fuse  had  burnt  out. 
It  took  them  an  hour  to  fix  it.  Then  they  lit  the  match, 
got  out  safe,  and  soon  there  was  a  shock  like  an 
earth-quake,  and  up  in  the  air  went  guns,  men,  and  huge 


BOMH    I'KOciIS    AT     I'K-TKRS-Hl/RG 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


blocks  of  clay,  and  when  the  smoke  and  dust  went  off 
there  was  a  great  chasm  in  the  place  where  the  Rebs 
had  had  their  fort. 


$*v;'<* 


"N 


EX-PLO-SION    OF    MINE    AT    PE-TERS-BI/RG. 


Led-lie  did  not  move  his  troops  up  as  he  should  have 
done,  and  Meade  sent  word  to  Burn-side  to  push  his 
troops  to  the  crest  of  the  hill.      But  there  was  a  snarl  of 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT 


105 


some  sort  — and  this 
gave  the  Rebs  time 
to  get  on  their  feet. 
Mean-while  Meade 
was  in  a  state  of 
fear  lest  this  chance 
should  be  lost,  and  at 
six  o'clock  he  sent 
this  word  to  Burn- 
side  :  "  There  is  no 
line  in  the  rear  of 
the  Rebs.  None  of 
their  troops  have  come  back  from  the  James.  Our 
chance  is  now.  Push  your  men  to  the  front  at  all 
risks  —  white  and  black.  Lose  no  time,  but  rush  for 
the  crest." 

The  black  troops  went  up  the  slope  as  bold  as  could 
be,  and  tried  to  take  the  hill.  But  the  fire  from  the 
Rebs  broke  up  their  ranks,  and  they  fled  in  wild  haste 
to  the  rear.  Not  a  few  of  the  white  troops  went  with 
them  in  their  flight,  but  the  rest  tried  to  fight  their  way 
through   the  pass. 

But  the  Rebs  had  brought  up  troops  on  all  sides,and 
from  the  crest   in  front,  and    from    the  chasms  and   lines 


MOK-TAR    BAT-TE-RY. 


io6  OUR  HERO  —GENERAL   U.    S.    GRAXT. 


on  the  flanks  they  sent  a  storm  of  shot  and  shell  in-to 
the  hole.  At  last  Grant  rode  out  to  the  front,  got  off  his 
horse,  and  though  shot  and  shell  went  by  him,  made 
his  way  to  where  Burn-side  stood.  He  saw  that  there 
was  no  chance  for  the  Yanks.  The  Rebs  had  it  all  their 
own  way,  and  it  was  no  use  to  waste  more  lives.  So  the 
troops  were  drawn  from  the  mine,  and  the  work  that 
was  done  there  had  been  all  in  vain.  It  was  a  great 
blow  to  Grant,  but  he  did  not  lose  heart  or  hope. 

On  the  7th  of  Au-gust,  Grant  put  Sher-i-dan  in  charge 
of  all  the  troops  that  were  in  Wash-ing-ton.  He  would 
make  warm  work  for  Ear-ly,  and  tease  him  to  death. 

Phil.  Sher-i-dan  at  this  time  was  not  quite  two-score. 
He  was  short  and  thick-set,  had  a  large  head,  and  wore 
his  hair  cut  close.  His  face  was  red,  and  his  eyes  black. 
Though  fond  of  fun,  he  could  look  stern  when  there  was 
need,  and  was  a  man  to  love,  to  fear,  and  to  trust.  His 
plans  were  all  well-laid.  He  knew  what  risks  he  took, 
and  when  it  was  wise  not  to  take  them.  He  would  dash 
here  and  there  through  the  fight  with  his  sword  drawn, 
and  with  an  air  that  gave  cheer  and  strength  to  his  men. 
It  might  be  said  that  he  put  life  in  them;  for  it  is  told 
that  when  one  of  his  men  was  shot  in  the  fight  at  Five 
Forks,  Sher-i-dan    cried   out    "  There's   no   harm    done," 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT. 


and  the  man  went  on  with  a  ball  in  his  brain  till  he  fell 
dead  on  the  field. 

The  time  had  come  for  a  grand  move  on  three  points. 
The  lines  were  to  be  drawn  in  so  as  to  crush  the  foe. 
On  the  ioth  of  Au-gust,  Sher-i-dan  set  out  to  meet 
Ear-lv,  and  drove  him  back  as  far  as  Stras-burg.  Sher- 
i-dan  went  in  camp  on  the  heights  north  of  the  town,  on 
Ce-dar  creek.  At  this  point  he  got  word  from  Grant 
that  a  large  force  had  gone  from  Rich-mond  to  Ear-ly, 
and  that  he  would  have  to  watch  each  move  that  was 
made,  and  give  chase  at  once  if  Ear-ly  should  turn  to 
the  north.  He  was  to  do  all  the  harm  that  he  could  to 
crops  and  to  rail-roads,  to  seize  all  the  live-stock,  and 
leave  no  wheat  or  hay  for  the  Rebs  to  use.  This  had 
to  be  done  so  that  the  foe  would  not  make  raids  on  the 
free  States.  The  free  States  were  those  where  no  slaves 
were  kept. 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  Sep-tem-ber,  Sher-i-dan 
found  out  that  a  part  of  Ear-ly's  force,  led  by  An-der- 
son,  was  on  the  move  through  Win-ches-ter,  on  the  way 
to  Front  Roy-al.  Sher-i-dan  had  a  mind  to  meet  them 
at  New-town,  in  the  rear  of  Win-ches-ter,  but  thought 
it  best  to  wait  till  he  could  have  a  talk  with  Grant.  On 
the    1  7th,    Ear-ly  went  to    Mar-tins-burg  with   some  of 


10S  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 

his  men,  to  tear  up  the  rail-road,  and  left  the  rest  of  his 
force  in  front  of  Win-ches-ter.  So  Sher-i-dan  made  a 
change  in  his  plans  and  left  Ber-ry-ville,  where  he  had 
been  for  some  days.  At  Mar-tins-burg,  Ear-ly  found 
out  that  Grant  had  been  with  Sher-i-dan,  and  as  he 
thought  some  great  move  was  to  be  made  in  front  of 
Pe-ters-burg,  he  at  once  came  back.  At  day-light  on 
the  19th  there  was  one  corps  of  the  Rebs  in  front  of 
Sher-i-dan  ;  one  five  miles  to  the  north  ;  and  one  quite 
close  at  hand  ;   and  he  must  fight  them  all. 

The  at-tack  was  made  in  fine  style.  The  boys  in  gray 
drove  back  the  boys  in  blue.  Then  they  in  turn  had 
to  give  way.  Sher-i-dan  sent  Crook  to  find  out  the  left 
of  the  line  of  the  Rebs,  and  to  strike  it  in  flank  or  rear, 
and  to  break  it  up,  while  he  made  a  left  half-wheel  on 
the  main  line  to  aid  them.  Crook  went  up  with  a  dash, 
and  drove  the  Rebs  from  their  place.  Wil-son  made  a 
push  to  the  left  to  gain  the  roads  that  led  south  from 
Win-ches-ter,  while  Tor-bert  made  a  charge  in  front  with 
the  troops  that  were  left. 

The  fear  that  they  might  be  shut  in  on  all  sides  broke 
up  the  lines  of  the  foe,  whom  Sher-i-dan  sent  with  a 
whirl  through  Win-ches-ter.  In  the  night,  Ear-ly  fell 
back  as  far  as  New-town,  and  next  dav  to  Fish-er's  Hill, 


I 


■;  toil 


V 
If  'H 


I 


:  I  'I 


OUR  HERO  .--GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  ic9 


four  miles   south  of  Stras-burg,  with   Sher-i-dan  in   full 
chase. 

In  this  fight  both  Sher-i-dan  and  Ear-ly  lost  4,500  men. 

At  Fish-er's  Hill  the  Rebs  had  put  up  breast-works 
the  whole  length  of  the  low-land,  here  three  miles  and  a 
half  wide.  On  the  night  of  Sep-tem-ber  20th  Sher-i- 
dan  took  his  stand  on  the  heights  of  Stras-burg.  Crook 
lay  hid  in  the  dense  woods.  Tor-bert  was  sent  to  the 
left  to  stop  the  Rebs  at  New-mar-ket,  a  score  of  miles 
back  of   Ear-lv. 

Ere  day-light  on  the  22nd  the  fight  took  place.  The 
6th  and  19th  corps  came  up  in  front,  while  Rick-ett's 
corps  and  Av-er-ill's  troop  of  horse-men  came  up  with  a 
great  show  on  the  left.  Just  as  the  Rebs  had  got  to  work, 
and  the  fire  of  the  guns  was  fierce  on  both  sides,  Crook 
burst  from  the  woods  on  the  hill-side,  struck  the  Rebs  in 
Hank  and  rear,  and  swept  down  back  of  their  breast- 
works. Sher-i-dan's  main  line  then  took  part  in  the 
fight,  seized  the  works  and  put  the  foe  to  rout.  It  was 
dark  ere  the  fight  came  to  an  end,  but  the  Rebs  kept  up 
their  flight  through  Wood-stock,  and  as  far  as  a  gorge 
in  the  Blue  Ridge. 

Sher-i-dan  gave  chase  all  through  the  night,  but  made 
a  halt  at  Wood-stock  to  rest  and  feed  his  men. 


OUR  HERO .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


On  the  23  rd  he  drove  the  foe  to  Mount  Jack-son,  and 
on  the  24th  to  a  point  six  miles  from  New-mar-ket. 
Had  Tor-bert  been  there  to  check  the  flight  of  the  Rebs, 
the  whole  of  Ear-ly's  force  would  have  met  its  doom. 
But  Tor-bert  had  had  hard  work  to  get  throuo-h  a  o-oree, 

*_>  000" 

and  fear  lent  wings  to  the  feet  of  those  who  fled  for 
their  lives.  On  the  25th,  Ear-lv  fell  back  as  far  as 
Brown's  Gap,  and  left  the  vale  of  Vir-gin-i-a  in  Sher-i- 
dan's  hands. 


..'■;.\.  ■■■■'■ '■ 


W 


^>Jiw»-s -, ^■\--i     ":>t-    -      --  rob  •l1 


OUR  HERO  .—  GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

T  H  1-:       M  A  R  C  H       TO       THE       SEA. 

Sher-i-dan's  good  luck  gave  great  joy  to  Grant,  as 
well  as  to  the  whole  North.  Grant  was  quick  to  praise 
him  and  to  thank  him  for  what  he  had  done,  and  it  was 
this  trait  of  the  great  chief's  that  made  his  men  so  fond 
of  him. 

Now  we  will  leave  the  Ar-my  on  the  James  for  a 
while,  and  take  a  look  at  Sher-man,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  the  Ar-my  of  the  Ten-nes-see.  He  had  a  great 
scheme  in  his  mind.  Hood  was  Lees  ricdit  hand  man 
it  this  point. 

Sher-man  had  to  guard  a  long  line  of  rail-road,  from 
Xash-ville  to  At-lan-ta,  and  the  need  of  troops  there  took 
from  the  strength  of  his  force.  Mo-bile  and  At-lan-ta 
were  safe. 

At  this  time,  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  the  Rebs,  Jeff. 
Da-vis  came  from  Rich-mond  to  the  camp  of  Hood,  and 
all  on  the  road,  to  tell  them  of  new  plans  that  had  been 
made  which  were  sure  to  crush  the  North. 

"  Be  of  good  cheer,"  he  said,  "for  in  a  short  time  you 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.    S.    GRAXT. 


will  turn  home-ward,  and  your  feet  will  press  the  soil 
of  Ten-nes-see."  The  new  plans  were  put  in  print,  and 
so  Sher-man  knew,  of  course,  just  what  to  do. 

On  the  29th  of  Sep-tem-ber,  Hood  and  his  troops 
cross  the  Chat-ta-hoo-chee,  and  on  this  day  Grant  made 
a  move  in  front  of  Rich-mond  so  that  Lee  would  not 
keep  too  close  a  watch  on  Sher-man.  Sher-man  gave 
chase  to  Hood,  who  he  knew  was  on  the  way  to  Al-la- 
too-na,  where  the  food  was  stored  to  feed  the  boys  in 
blue.  This  would  be  a  great  prize.  From  hill-top  to 
hill-top  flags  were  sent  that  would  tell  Corse,  who  was 

at  Rome,  to  haste  at  once  to 
Al-la-too-na.  Sher-man  did  not 
reach    Ken-e-saw  till   the   5th  of 


.    :   Oc-to-ber,  and   by  this  time  the 
•^*S^^^rt«S^--      Rebs    had    struck    the  rail-road, 

and    the   whole   line   at   his   feet 
for  miles  and  miles  bore  marks 
of  the  fires.      He  could  see  the  smoke  of  the  fight,  and 
hear  the  roar  of  the  big  guns  a  score  of  miles  a-way. 

He  at  once  told  the  23rd  corps  to  march  due  west,  to 
burn  bush  or  to  set  a  house  on  fire  to  mark  the  head  of 
the  line,  and  come  in  'twixt  Hood  and  the  Rebs  in  force 
at  Al-la-too-na. 


OUR  HERO  .•— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


Not  a  word  since  day-light  had  been  heard  from  Gen- 
er-al  Corse  ;  but  as  Sher-man  stood  on  Ken-e-saw  Mount 
he  caught  sight  through  a  gap,  of  the   tell-tale  flag,  on 

which  was  C.  R.  S.  E. 
H.  E.  R.  He  made 
sense  out  ol  it  at  once. 
"Corse  is  here."  This 
was  the  first  that  Sher- 
man knew  that  Corse 
had  o-ot  the  word  from 
him,  and  he  had  less  fear 
for  Al-la-too-na.  By 
two  o'clock  in  the  day 
the  smoke  grew  less 
and  less,  and  at  four  the 
fight  came  to  an  end.  The  tell-tale  flag  let  Sher-man 
know  that  Hood  was  sent  back,  and  that  Corse  had  a 
bad  wound. 

He  was  "short  a  cheek  bone  and  an  ear,"  but  still 
full  of  fight. 

On  the  10th  of  Oc-tober  Hood  was  at  Rome,  and 
Shcr-man's  whole  force  gave  chase  as  far  as  Kings-ton. 
When  they  came  to  the  place  they  found  that  Hood  had 
fled.      On   the   12  th  the   Rebs  were  at  Re-sa-ca.      Hood 


HOLD    THE    TORT    FLAG    SIG-NAL. 


OUR  HERD  .■—  GENERAL  U.   S.   GRAXT. 


bade  those  on  guard  there  give  up  the  post,  or  they 
would  take  it  by  storm. 

"If  you  want  it,  come  and  take  it,"  was  the  word  sent 
back. 

This  Hood  did  not  do,  but  kept  on  his  march  to  the 
north  and  tore  up  all  the  rail-ways  on  his  route. 

For  the  first  eight  days  of  Oc-to-ber  Sher-man  had 
sent  no  word  to  Grant,  but  on  the  ninth  he  made  known 
to  him  his  plan  to  march  to  the  sea-coast.  "  I  can  make 
the  march,"  he  wrote,   "and  make  Geor-gi-a  howl." 

Grant  at  first  did  not  like  to  have  Sher-man  turn  his 
back  on  the  foe.  He  thought  it  might  be  best  to  fight 
Hood,  and  then  set  out  on  the  march.  Sher-man  was 
sure  that  Hood  would  chase  him.  Grant  was  as  sure 
that  the  Rebs  would  go  north.  Grant  had  no  force  to 
send  to  meet  him  at  Sa-van-nah.  Still  Sher-man  had  a 
mind  to  move  to  the  sea.      It  was  a  bold  scheme. 

It  was  not  till  the  15th  of  No-vem-ber  that  Sher-man 
set  out  on  his  great  march  to  the  sea-coast.  His  troops 
were  made  up  of  four  corps.  Gen-er-al  How-ard  had 
charge  of  the  right  wing.  Gen-er-al  Slo-cum  of  the  left. 
How-ard  with  the  horse-men  went  to  the  south-east, 
while  Slo-cum  led  off  to  the  east,  by  way  of  De-ca-tur 
and  Mad-i-son.      Mil-ledge-ville  was  the  point  they  were 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL   U,   S.   GRANT.  115 

to  strike,  and  it  would  take  them  a  week  to  reach  that 
place. 

They  took  no  tents.  They  made  their  beds  of  pine 
boughs.  They  fed  off  the  land,  and  the  farms  on  their 
route,  and  at  night  the  sky  was  red  with  the  fires  they  lit 
to  burn  the  rail-road  ties.  They  would  march  from  ten 
to  a  score  of  miles  each  day.  The  troops  were  kept  in 
good  health,  and  the  live-stock  were  well  fed,  and  the 
deeds  that  we  would  call  crimes  in  times  of  peace,  were 
not  thought  to  be  such  in  war  times. 

The  Rebs  thought  that  Sher-man  meant  to  march  on 
Au-gus-ta,  or  Ma-con,  and  at  once  went  to  work  to  add 
to  the  strength  of  each  place,  and  to  guard  well  the 
stores  there. 

On  the  22  nd  the  right  and  left  wing  met  the  main  line 
at  Mil-ledge-ville.  The  chief  men  of  the  State,  those 
who  made  the  laws,  fled  from  the  place  ;  but  the  towns- 
folks  staid  in  their  homes.  The  Rebs  came  out  of 
Ma-con,  but  the  boys  in  blue  drove  them  back  and  kept 
on  to  the  O-co-nee,  where  once  more  they  fell  in  with 
the  foe,  who  tried  to  drive  them  back  in  turn.  But  a 
bridge  of  boats  is  soon  laid,  and  the  risfht  wing  cross  the 
stream,  and  are  safe  from  harm  for  a  while. 

The  march  was  laid  out  for  each  day  ;    each  wing  was 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


told  which  route  to  take,  and  where  they  were  to  camp 
at  noon  and  at  night,  and  on  they  went  with  brave 
hearts  to  the  goal  they  sought  to  win.  As  they  came 
near  San-ders-yille  the  Rebs  set  fire  to  the  stacks  of 
grain  that  stood  in  the  fields.  Sher-man  at  once  made 
it  known  to  those  who  dwelt  in  and  near  that  place,  that 
it  they  burnt  food  or  hay  on  his  route  he  would  make 
a  clean  sweep  of  the  whole  land.  This  put  a  stop  to  the 
waste,  and  the  troops  went  on,  tore  up  the  rail-roads,  and 
lived  on  the  fat  of  the  land. 

They  did  not  fare  so  well  as  they  drew  near  the  coast, 
where  the  ground  was  bare,  and  the  soil  poor.  But 
though  corn  and  grass  were  scarce,  there  were  rice  fields 
close  at  hand,  and  on  this  gram  both  men  and  beasts 
were  fed. 

By  the  8th  of  De-cem-ber  the  van  reach  Poo-lers  sta- 
tion, eight  miles  from  Sa-van-nah.  Sher-man  rode  forth 
to  spy  out  the  land,  and  soon  came  to  a  dense  wood. 
He  got  oft  his  horse,  and  found  a  space  through  which 
he  could  see  the  out-works  of  Sa-van-nah,  at  least  half  a 
mile  a- way.  Here  was  a  wide  ditch,  there  a  swamp  or 
a  creek.  The  whole  land  round  Sa-van-nah  was  a  great 
salt  marsh — hard  to  cross — and  the  out-works  were  so 
strong  that  Sher-man  felt  that  a  siege  was  close  at  hand. 


OUR  HERO  .  —  GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


117 


The  fleet,  with  the  Stars  and  Stripes  at  mast-head,  lay 
in  Ty-bee,  Os-sa-baw,  and  Was-saw  sounds.  He  must 
let  them  know  where  he  was,  so  that  they  could  aid  him 
in  this  strait.  In  the  mean-time  he  shut  in  the  town  on 
the  north  and  west — Slo-cum  on  the  left,  and  How-ard 
on  the  right — so  that  no  stores  could  reach  Sa-van-nah 
by  these  routes. 

On  the  13th  of  De-cem-ber,  Sher-man  sent  out  a  corps 
of  men  in  charge  of  Brig-a-dier  Gen-er-al  Ha-zen.  They 
were  to  march  down  the  west  bank  of  the  O-gee-chee, 
and  take  Fort  McAl-lis-ter  by  storm.      It  was  a  strong 

fort,  and  in  it  was 
a  large  force  of 
men  and  guns — 
great  guns  that 
could  send  huge 
balls,  and  fire  at  a 


A    GREAT    GUN. 


Ha-zen  put  some 
of  his  men  where  they  could  see  and  yet  not  be  seen. 
The  trunks  of  trees  hid  them,  and  they  could  pick  off 
the  men  at  the  guns  in  the  fort  it  they  dared  to  show 
their  heads.  The  rest  of  the  troops  went  up  the  hill  in 
three   lines,  and   met  at  the  same  tunc  on  the  wall  at  the 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


top,  and  drove  the  Rebs  to  the  bomb-proofs,  where  a 
hand-to-hand  fight  took  place.  This  was  kept  up  till 
the  last  Reb  gave  way,  and  Fort  McAl-lis-ter  was  won. 

For  two  davs  Sher-mans  troops  had  been  on  the 
look-out,  from  trees  and  hill-tops,  for  some  sign  of  the 
fleet.  But  not  a  flag  was  to  be  seen.  At  last  Sher-man, 
who  kept  a  watch  on  each  move  that  Ha-zen  made,  saw 
a  long  way  off,  where  the  sky  bent  down  to  the  sea, 
some-thing  that  was  like  the  smoke-pipe  of  a  steam-ship. 
It  comes  fast!  It  draws  near!  A  flag  goes  up — and 
all  goes  well ! 

As  soon  as  the  Stars  and  Stripes  were  seen  on  the 
wall,  Sher-man  went  to  the  fort,  found  a  skiff  near  at 
hand,  and  with  a  crew  of  men  who  laid  down  their  oams 
to  take  up  the  oars,  was  soon  on  his  way  down  the 
stream.  Night  had  set  in,  but  six  miles  from  the  fort 
he  saw  a  light.  It  was  the  ship  that  led  the  fleet,  and 
Sher-man  was  soon  on  board. 

It  was  just  one  month  since  he  had  left  At-lan-ta. 
The  march  to  the  sea  was  made,  and  the  whole  land 
rang  with  shouts  and  cheers.  The  end  drew  near. 
Thom-as  had  whipped  Hood,  and  the  names  of  Sher- 
man and  Thom-as  were  in  all  mens  mouths. 


OUR  HERO  .-— GENERAL   U.   S.    GRAXT. 


ny 


CHAPTER     XIII. 


THE      FIGHT      AT      CE-DAR      CREEK. 

Now  we  must  go  back  to  see  what  has  been  clone  by 
the  Ar-mv  on  the  James.  Ere  the  dawn  of  day  on  the 
29th  of  Sep-tem-ber   But-ler  made  a  move  from   Deep 

Bot-tom,  which  was 
but  ten  miles  from 
Rich-mond.  Ord  led 
the  1 8th  corps  by  the 
Va-ri-na  road.  Bir- 
nev  the  10th  corps, 
by  the  Xew-mar-ket 
road.  Kautz,  with  the 
men  on  horse-back, 
took  the  Dar-by-town 
road,  on  the  right  of 
the  troops  on  foot. 
The)'  took  Fort  Har- 
ri-son  by  storm.  Ord,  who  led  the  charge,  was  shot  in 
the  leg  and  had  to  leave  the  held.  Bir-nev  drove  back 
the  loe  on  the  New-mar-ket  road.       Lee  tried  to  make  up 


<,KAVI     ami    SHER-MAN    AT    THF.    CAMP    FIRE. 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


his  loss,  but  in  vain.  Fresh  ground  was  won  by  the 
boys  in  blue,  and  both  Pet-ers-burg  and  Rich-mond 
would  soon  have  to  fall. 

Grant  rode  out  to  the  front  of  But-ler's  lines,  and  then 
made  his  way  to  Fort  Har-ri-son.  There  he  had  to  get 
off  his  horse  to  cross  the  ditch,  and  was  soon  in-side  the 
works.      The  ground  was  strewn  with  blood  and  shells. 

Dead  men  were  all 
round.  Shells  were 
thrown  from  the  forts 
near,  that  burst  in- 
side the  walls.  Grant 
stood  up  on  the  bank 
— the  place  where  the 
men  stand  to  fire  the 
big  Pfuns — and  had 
a  eood  view  of  the 
out-works  and  out- 
guards  at  Rich-mond. 
Through  the  smoke 
the  whole  line  could 
be  seen  for  miles,  and 
he  at  once  made  up 
his  mind  to  push  both 


A    SIG-NAL    STA-TION    IN    A    TREE. 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


wings  of  But-ler's  corps  to 
the  front.  He  sat  down  to 
write  the  note.  While  he 
wrote  a  shell  burst  in  the  air 
right  o'er  his  head.  Quick 
as  a  flash  the  men  near  him 
bent  their  heads  so  they 
would  not  be  hit.  Grant 
did  not  look  up;  his  hand 
did  not  shake;  but  he  went 
on  and  wrote  his  note,  and 
was  as  calm  as  if  he  had 
been  m  camp. 

But  I  set  out  to  tell  you 
more  of  Sher-i-dan,  whom 
we  left  in  Vir-gin-i-a.  On  the  13th  of  Oc-to-ber  he  was 
sent  for  to  come  to  Wash-ing-ton,  that  the  chiefs  there 
might  have  a  talk  with  him.  He  set  out  on  the  15th 
and  the  whole  force  of  horse-men  with  him  as  far  as 
Front  Roy-al.  There,  on  Mon-day,  the  1 6th,  he  was 
met  by  word  from  Wright,  who  had  been  leit  at  Ce-dar 
Creek,  that  a  note  had  been  seized  on  its  way  to  Ear-ly, 
which  read  thus:  "Move  as  soon  as  my  troops  join 
you,  and  we  will  crush  Sher-i-dan.     —   Long-street." 


GEX-KR-AL    (.Ra.V'I     AT    FORT 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  V.   S.   GRANT. 


Both  Grant  and  Sher-i-dan  had  thought  that  Long- 
street  was  at  Rich-mond,  and  that  the  Rebs  had  no 
force  but  Ear-lys  in  that  part  of  Vir-gin-i-a. 

Sher-i-dan  sent  word  to  Wright  that  the  horse-men 
would  all  be  sent  back  to  him,  and  that  he  must  do  all 
he  could  to  add  to  his  strength.  "  Close  in  on  Gen-er-al 
Pow-ell,  who  will  be  at  this  point.  Look  well  to  your 
ground,  and  I  know  you  will  win."  He  then  went  on 
to  Wash-inor-ton. 

Ce-dar Creek  winds  its  way  to  the  North  Fork  of  the 
Shen-an-do-ah,  two  miles  east  of  Stras-burg.  The  boys 
in  blue  were  in  a  strong  place  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
creek  and  north  of  the  Fork.  The  boys  in  gray  were 
at  Fish-er's  Hill,  five  miles  off.  Pow-ell  was  at  the 
point  where  the  South  Fork  joins  with  the  Shen-an-do- 
ah,  more  than  six  miles  from  the  left  of  Wrights  corps. 

Ear-ly  had  a  look-out  on  Mas-a-nut-ten  mount,  from 
which  he  could  see  the  camps  of  all  the  boys  in  blue,  and 
each  move  the  troops  might  make.  His  plan  was  to 
turn  Wright's  left  flank,  as  he  saw  that  was  the  weak 
point.  On  the  night  of  the  i  Sth  of  Oc-to-ber,  three 
corps  of  troops  moved  round  the  North  Fork  to  the 
rear  of  Wright's  force.  Ker-shaw  was  to  strike  the  left 
flank.      Whar-ton  to  come  up  in  front  with  the  big  guns 


01 7?  HERO  .-—GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


on  wheels,  and  charge  on  Wright  as  soon  as  he  turned 
on  Gor-don  and  Ker-shaw.  Ros-ser  was  sent  to  the 
right  flank,  and  Lo-max  was  to  pass  by  Front  Roy-al, 
cross  the  Shen-an-do-ah,  and  seize  the  road  to  Win- 
ches-ter. 

The  night  was  dark,  and  there  was  a  thick  fog,  so 
that  Gor-don  crept  past  the  guns  of  Crook,  and  was  not 
seen,  and  ere  day-break  had  struck  the  rear  of  Wright's 
troops.  At  the  same  time  Ker-shaw  struck  the  left, 
drove  in  the  out-posts,  and  bore  in  on  the  camps.  Then 
Whar-ton  came  up  on  the  front  with  his  great  guns,  and 
the  whole  of  the  left  flank  gave  way  at  the  fierce  fire. 

The  Sixth  corps,  on  the  right,  had  time  to  form  and 
move  out  of  camp  to  a  ridge  west  of  the  main  road, 
where  they  did  their  best  to  drive  back  the  foe.  But 
the  big  guns  were  brought  up  by  the  Rebs,  and  Get-ty 
fell  back  to  the  north  of  Mid-die-town. 

Cus-ter  and  Mer-ntt  were  sent  to  the  left  of  the  line 
to  guard  the  road  to  Win-ches-ter  — which  Lo-max  did 
not  seize — and  the  rest  of  the  bovs  in  blue  were  told  to 
fly  with  all  haste  to  the  rear,  and  the}'  came  to  a  halt 
more  than  six  miles  from  the  place  where  the}'  had  been 
at  day-break. 

\\  here  was  Sher-i-dan  ? 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.    S.   GRANT. 


I  told  you  he  was 
on  his  way  to  Wash- 
ing-ton. He  left 
there  at  noon,  on 
the  1 8th,  and  that 
night  slept  at  Win- 
ches-ter  —  twen-ty 
miles  from  his  men. 
At  nine  o'clock  the 
next  day  he  rode 
out  of  Win-ches-ter. 


WAG-ON    TRAIN    UNDER    FIRE. 


H 


is  mind  was  calm. 
All   at  once   he  gave  a 


He  had  heard  no  bad  news 
start  at  the  sounds  that  met  his  ear.  He  knew  too  well 
what  they  meant.  Half  a  mile  from  the  town  he  saw  a 
sight  that  set  his  blood  on  fire.  There  were  the  boys  in 
blue — trains  and  men — in  a  wild  flight. 

"Halt!  Halt!" — he  cries.  The  sight  of  him  puts 
new  life  in  the  men.  He  rides  in  hot  haste,  swings  his 
hat  and  shouts,  "Turn  back  !  turn  back  !  turn  back  !"  and 
some  of  the  men  face  round  at  once.  They  will  go 
where  he  leads,  and  do  as  he  says,  so  great  is  the  force 
of  his  will. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  when  Sher-i-dan   got  to  the  front, 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U   S.   GRAXT. 


125 


and  as  soon  as  he  saw  how  things  were,  he  made  his 
mind  to  fight  on  Get-ty's  line.  So  he  sent  Cus-ter  back 
to  the  right,  brought  up  what  was  left  of  the  Sixth  corps, 
which  was  two  miles  to  the  right  and  rear,  and  sent 
word  to  have  the  19  th  come  up  in  line. 

But  he  could  not  wait.  There  was  need  of  haste,  for 
the  Rebs  would  soon  make  a  fresh  charge.  So  he  went 
back  him-self  to  urge    the  men  on.       He  wore  the  full 


5HER-I-DAN    AT    CF.  DAK    CREEK. 


suit  of  a  Ma-jor  Gen-er-al — which  was  the  rank  he  held 
— and  rode  a  fine  black  horse.  Off  he  goes  with  a 
dash!      Dust    and    foam    are    on    man    and   beast      He 

waves  his  hat  and  sword    by  turns  and  shouts  to  the  men 


i26  OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


to  turn  back.  "  If  I  had  been  there  that  would  not  have 
been  ! "  They  know  it,  they  feel  it.  There  is  a  charm 
in  the  man,  a  spell  in  his  voice ;  he  moves  them  ;  he 
sways  them.  In  crowds  they  turn  back — fall  in-to  ranks 
and  are  a  wild  mob  no  more. 

Wright  now  came  back  to  his  corps,  Get-tv  to  his — 
(Rick-etts  had  had  a  wound  and  Get-ty  took  his  place) 
— and  Sher-i-dan  had  charge  of  all.  He  formed  the 
troops  in  a  close  line,  and  had  a  breast-work  of  rails  and 
logs  thrown  up  just  in  time. 

The  Rebs  came  up,  but  were  made  to  fall  back. 
They  had  not  thought  to  meet  such  a  strong  force  of  the 
boys  in  blue.  They  knew  they  had  put  them  to  rout  in 
fine  style,  but  they  did  not  know  that  the  most  of  those 
who  fled  to  the  rear  in  great  fright,  came  back  and 
fought  as  if  they  did  not  know  what  fear  was.  Those 
who  had  got  as  far  as  New-town,  ten  miles  off,  came 
back  and  took  part  in  the  fight. 

Sher-i-dan  made  an  at-tack  at  three  p.m.  The  Rebs 
fought  well — back  of  a  stone  fence  or  a  breast-work  of 
rails — and  for  a  while  made  out  to  check  the  boys  in 
blue.  But  Sher-i-dan  soon  pushed  on,  and  at  last  Ear-ly 
had  to  give  way.  The  brave  Cus-ter  came  up,  and 
at   his  charge  the  whole  line  of  troops  pressed  on  and 


OUR  HERO  :—  GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


127 


drove  the  Rebs  to  the  creek.     They  could  not  be  held 
back. 

Night  came  on  and  hid  them  from  sight.  Ear-ly  lied 
as  far  as  New-mar-ket,  and  the  whole  land  'twixt  the  Po- 
to-mac  and  the  James  was  in  the  hands  of  the  North. 

On  the  night  of  Oc-to-ber  19th,  1864,  the  staff  were 
in  front  of  Grant's  tent.  They  had  heard  there  had  been 
a  fight  at  Ce-dar  Creek,  and  were  in  wait  for  more  news. 
A  note  from  Sher-i-dan  was  brought  to  Grant.  He 
took  it  and  read  it  with  great  care.  The  eyes  of  all  the 
staff  were  on  him,  but  his  calm  face  gave  no  sign  that 
the  news  was  good  or  bad.  He  turned  to  the  first  page 
and   read   it  to   them.      With  a  shake  of   the    head    he 

read  of  the  at-tack 
on  Wright,  of  the 
i  loss  of  guns,  and  how 
the  troops  had  been 
thrown  out  of  line 
and  sent  six  miles 
to  the  rear.  Here 
Grant  made  a  pause, 
looked  round  at  the 
men,  and  said,  with 
a  sad  voice,  "  That's  pret-ty  bad,  isrit  it?" 


MOS-BYS    GUF.R-Kir.-I.AS. 


OCR  HERO  :— GENERAL  C.   S.    GRAM. 


"  Its  too  bad — too  bad,"  said  the  men,  who  were  quite 
cast  down  by  the  news. 

"  Now  wait  till  I  read  you  the  rest  of  it,"  said  Grant, 
— with  a  gleam  of  mirth  in  his  eye.  Then  he  went  on  to 
read  how  Sher-i-dan  rode  twen-ty  miles  at  break-neck 
speed,  took  back  the  guns,  won  back  all  and  more  than 
had  been  lost,  and  left  the  foe  a  wreck. 

By  this  time  the  men  were  wild  with  joy,  and  it  was 
great  fun  for  Grant  to  see  the  change  that  took  place 
when  he  threw  this  bomb-shell  in  on  them. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE      FIGHT      AT      FIVE      FORKS. 

Grant's  plan,  as  I  have  told  you,  was  to  "  wipe  out 
Lee ;"  but  he  did  not  want  to  move  on  to  Rich-mond 
till  he  had  the  coil  so  tight  that  there  would  be  no 
chance  for  the  Rebs  to  break  through.  The  hour  drew 
near.  The  troops  must  be  brought  up  from  north, 
south,  east,  and  west. 

It  was  in  Jan-u-a-ry,  1865,  that  Sher-man  set  out  with 
his  troops  to  march  to  the  north  by  land,  and  to  form  his 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT.  i4g 


camp  on  the  rail-road  'twixt  Sa-van-nah  and  Charles-ton. 
Sher-man  made  the  Rebs  think  he  meant  to  move  on 
Charles-ton  or  Au-gus-ta. 

On  the  ist  of  Feb-ru-a-rv  he  had  60,000  men  in  line. 
How-ard  led  the  right  wing.  Slo-cum  the  left.  Kil- 
pat-rick  was  chief  of  the  horse-men. 

Scho-field  had  charge  of  the  force  in  North  Car-o-li-na, 
and  was  to  act  with  Sher-man.  Thom-as  was  to  send 
Gen-er-al  Stone-man,  with  a  band  of  horse-men,  on  a  raid 
through  South  Car-o-h-na,  well  down  to  Co-lum-bi-a,  to 
tear  up  the  rail-roads  there,  and  make  a  tour  of  that 
part  of  the  State  which  Sher-man  could  not  reach. 

Grant,  like  a  watch-dog,  kept  his  eye  on  Lee,  and 
would  pitch  in  it  there  were  signs  that  Lee  would  leave 
Rich-mond.  "  In  the  mean-time,"  said  he  to  Sher-man, 
"  should  you  be  brought  to  a  halt  I  can  send  two  corps  ol 
good  men  to  your  aid  from  the  works  round  Rich-mond." 

Grant  got  word  in  due  time  of  the  fall  of  Branch-ville, 
then  ol  Co-lum-bi-a,  then  of  Charles-ton.  Then  came 
word  from  Scho-field  that  Fort  An-der-son  and  Wil- 
ming-ton  were  in  his  hands. 

I  he  Stars  and  Stripes  were  at  the  lore  on  the  At-lan- 
tic  and  on  the  Gulf  of  Mex-i-co.  Sher-i-dan,  Sher-man, 
Scho-held,  Stonc-mim  and  Meade  were  to  close  in  at  the 


i3o  OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.    S.   GRANT. 

same  time  and  seize  the  game.  Sher-i-dan  set  out  from 
Win-ches-ter  on  the  27th  of  Feb-ru-ary.  The  spring 
thaws  had  set  in,  and  there  was  great  fall  of  rain.  All 
the  streams  were  too  high  to  ford,  and  the  march  was, 
ol  course,  a  slow  one. 

On  the  third  day  he  fell  in  with  the  Rebs  'twixt  Har- 
ri-son-burg  and  Mount  Craw-ford,  and  drove  them  back 
to  Kline's  mills. 

Ear-ly  was  at  Staun-ton,  and  as  Sher-i-dan  drew  near 
that  place  the  foe  went  on  in  haste  to  Wavnes-bo-ro, 
where  he  took  his  stand.  Cus-ter  came  up  at  once, 
made  a  dash  on  the  breast-works  and  through  the  town, 
nor  did  he  and  his  troops  stop  till  they  crossed  the 
South  Fork  of  the  Shen-an-do-ah,  where  they  stood  with 
drawn  swords  and  held  the  east  bank  ot  the  stream. 

The  whole  of  Ear-ly' s  force  threw  down  their  arms ; 
but  Ear-ly  and  a  few  of  his  staff  ran  oft,  and  hid  in  the 
woods  till  night  came  on.  This  fight  took  place  on  the 
2nd  of  March.  On  the  19th,  Shcr-i-dan  was  at  White 
House,  where  he  found  word  from  Grant  to  start  at 
once  and  strike  the  South-side  road  as  near  to  Peters- 
burg as  he  could — tear  it  up  so  that  it  could  not  be 
built  up  in  two  or  three  days — and  then  push  on  to  the 
Dan-ville  road,  as  near  Ap-po-mat-tox  as  he  could  get. 


OCR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


This  he  wrote  to  Sher-man  ;  and  saicl,  "  When  Sher- 
i-dan  starts  I  shall  move  out  by  my  lelt  with  all  the  force 
I  can.  If  Lee  comes  out  ot  his  lines  I  will  do  my  best 
to  beat  him  back." 

On  the  15th  of  March,  Sher-man's  lelt,  led  by  Slo- 
cum,  came  up  with  Har-dee's  force,  and  there  was  a  hard 
fight  at  A-ve-rvs-bo-ro,  which  was  won  by  the  boys  in 
blue.  Then  there  was  a  three-days'  fight  at  Ben-tons- 
ville ;  but  though  Johns-ton  brought  to  his  aid  such 
men  as  Bragg,  Cheat-ham,  Har-dee,  H  amp-ton,  and  a 
large  force  ot  troops,  the  boys  in  blue  held  their  ground, 
and  drove  the  Rebs  lor  two  miles.  As  the  road  was 
now  clear,  Sher-man  went  on  to  Golds-bor-o,  and  there 
found  Scho-held  and  his  troops,  who  had  fought  their 
way  from  the  heart  ot  Ten-nes-see  to  the  At-lan-tic. 
The  whole  of  the  sea-coast,  and  all  the  dock-yards,  forts, 
and  gun-boats,  were  now  in  the  hands  of  the  North,  and 
the  troops  fixed  so  that  they  could  take  part  in  Grant's 
plan,  and  be  near  at  hand  when  he  should  need  them. 

Sher-man's  men  had  had  a  long  march,  and  were  in 
need  of  rest,  so  no  move  was  made  by  them  till  the  10th 
of  A-pnl.  Then  they  set  out  to  cross  the  Ro-an-oake, 
and  strike  the  Dan-ville  road,  which  Grant  thought 
would  bring  Lee  out  of   his  strong-hold.      Ere  the  dawn 


i3 2  OUR  HERO  .-— GENERAL   U.   S.    GRANT. 

of  day,  on  the  25th  of  March,  Lee  made  an  at-tack  on 
the  right  of  Meade's  line,  in  front  of  the  Ninth  corps, 
where  there  was  a  small  fort,  not  much  more  than  half 
a  mile  from  the  Ap-po-mat-tox,  on  the  Prince  George 
Court-house  road.  It  was  known  as  Fort  Stead-man. 
From  time  to  time  some  of  Lees  troops  had  left  him, 
and  come  in-to  Grants  lines,  and  Grant  had  sent  word 
to  the  out-guards  to  let  all  such  pass  and  bring  their 
arms  with  them.  Lee  knew  this,  and  sent  out  a  squad 
of  men  who  told  the  out-guards  that  they  meant  to  fight 
for  the  North  and  not  for  the  South,  and  by  this  trick  got 
m-side  the  lines,  and  made  way  for  Lee's  troops.  The 
trench-guard  fought  hard  to  keep  them  back,  but  the 
rush  was  too  great,  and  the  main  line  gave  way.  In 
front,  on  the  flank,  and  in  the  rear,  the  Rebs  charged  on 
Fort  Stead-man,  and  the  force  there  had  not  strength  to 
hold  it.  It  was  still  so  dark  that  one  could  scarce  see 
which  was  friend  and  which  was  foe,  and  this  made  it 
hard  to  form  the  troops  so  as  to  check  the  foe,  who  seized 
the  men  and  turned  the  guns  on  the  boys  in  blue. 

Parke,  whose  line  was  on  the  east  ol  Fort  Stead-man, 
made  up  his  mind  to  re-take  the  fort,  brought  up  his  big- 
guns  on  the  hills  at  the  rear,  and  soon  drove  back  the 
Rebs,  who  were  on  the  march  to  the  rail-road.      LI  art- 


OUR  HERO  .—GEXERAL   U.   S.    GRAXT. 


ranft  brought  up  his  men  to  aid  Parke.  They  were  raw 
troops.  It  was  the  first  fight  they  had  been  in,  but  they 
went  to  work  with  a  will,  and  the  cross-fire  of  small  guns 
and  big  ones  was  so  great  that  the  Rebs,  who  were  in 
the  fort,  could  not  get  out,  and  so  fell  in  the  hands  of 
the  blue-coats,  who  took  back  the  prize.  Not  a  gun 
nor  a  flag  was  lost. 

When  Meade  came  on  the  field  he  at  once  sent  word 
to  Wright  and  Humph-reys  to  move  west  of  Parke,  and 
find  out  where  Lees  troops  were.  This  they  did,  seized 
a  large  force  of  men,  and  drove  back  the  lines  in  front 
of  their  own. 

All  Grant's  troops  were  to  move  on  the  29th  of 
March  to  force  out  Lee.  On  the  28th  Grant  sent  word 
to  Sher-i-dan  to  move  as  soon  as  he  could  in  the  rear  of 
the  Fifth  corps,  pass  bv  its  left,  near  to  or  through  Din- 
wid-die,  to  reach  the  right  and  rear  of  Lee's  troops. 
"Should  he  come  out  and  at-tack  us,  or  get  where  we 
can  at-tack  him,  move  in  with  your  whole  force  in  your 
own  way,  and  feel  sure  that  the  troops  will  help  when 
and  where  they  can.  I  will  be  on  the  field,  and  will  no 
doubt  have  a  chance  to  speak  with  you.  I  mean  to  end 
the  war  here." 

At  nine  o'clock  Grant  and  his  staff  left  Cit-y  Point  by 


'34 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


the  rail-road.  Lin-coln  went  with  them  to  the  train  to 
bid  them  God-speed.  "Good-bye,"  he  said,  "God  bless 
you  all !" 

At  dark  Sher-i-dan  was  at  Dm-wid-die  Court-house. 
Grant  sent  word  to  him — "\\  e  are  now  one  line  from  the 
Ap-po-mat-tox  to  Din-wid-die.  I  do  not  want  you  to 
cut  loose  just  now.  Push  round  the  foe  if  you  can,  and 
get  on  to  his  right  rear.  We  will  all  act  as  one  till  it  is 
seen  what  can  be  done  with  the  Rebs." 

That  night  the  rain  fell  so  hard  that  the  ground  was 
soon  like  a  great  swamp.  No  wheels  could  move 
through  the  solt  mass,  and  men  and  beasts  were  stuck 
m  the  mud,  or.  what  is  worse,  in  the  quick-sands.  Some 
of  the  men  near  Grant  tried  hard  to  get  him  to  turn 
back.  But  this  he  would  not  do.  He  had  made  up  his 
mind,  in  spite  of  rain  or  roads,  to  push  on  to  Rich- 
mond. 

Some  one  said  that  Johns-ton 
might  march  up  from  the  south 
and  strike  the  blue-coats  in  the 
rear. 

"  I  wish  he  would,"   said   Grant. 
"I  d  turn  round  and  get  rid  ol  him, 
*-*  and  then  be  free  to  at-tack  Lee." 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


All  was  gloom  till  Sher-i-dan  rode  up  lull  of  cheer  to 
talk  with  Grant.  Grant  was  in  his  tent,  and  Sher-i-dan 
stood  out-side,  by  the  camp-fire,  with  the  staff.  He  was 
lull  of  pluck,  and  was  sure  that  they  could  beat  the  foe 
ll  they  made  the  first  move.  He  thought  it  was  right 
for  each  man  to  do  as  the  chief  said,  and  not  bring  up 
plans  of  his  own.  His  talk  did  much  to  cheer  the  men 
and  Grant  was  sent  for  to  hear  what  Sher-i-dan  had  to 
say. 

There  was  a  point  near  the  Din-wid-die  road  where 
five  roads  met.  It  was  known  as  the  Five  Forks. 
This  was  but  two  miles  from  the  south-side  road,  and 
if  Grant  could  gain  Five  Forks  Lee  could  not  stay  in 
Pe-ters-burg. 

Grant  saw  it  was  a  good  scheme,  and  told  Sher-i-dan 
to  go  back  to  Din-wid-die  and  move  at  once  on  Five 
Forks. 

The  names  of  the  roads  that  crossed  here  were  White 
Oak,  Din-wid-die,  Boyd-ton,  Yaugh-an  (voni),  and  Flat- 
foot, 

Sher-i-dan  sent  out  a  corps  from  Din-wid-die  Court- 
house, but  found  the  Rebs  in  force  at  Five  Forks.  The 
roads  were  still  so  bad  that  the  horse-men  could  not  be 
of  much  use.      War-rcn,  at  the  same  time,  made  a  move 


i3 6  OUR  HERO  .  —  GENERAL    U.    S.    GRANT. 


on  the  Boyd-ton  road,  and  found  the  Rebs  strong  in 
his  front,  but  was  told  to  hold  the  place  and  do  all  he 
could  to  add  to  its  strength.  Wright  and  Parke  thought 
it  a  good  time  to  make  an  as-sault.  Grant,  who  could 
guess  the  strength  of  Lee's  force,  felt  that  the  hour  had 
come,  and  at  once  sent  word  to  Ord,  Wright,  and  Parke 
to  move  on  the  works  at  day-light  the  next  day. 

Lee  knew  that  he  must  hold  Five  Forks  at  all  risks. 
Strong  breast-works  were  put  up,  and  all  done  that  could 
be  done  to  add  to  the  strength  of  the  Rebs  in  and  round 
Pe-ters-burg. 

On  the  last  day  of  March,  War-ren  made  a  move  to 
drive  the  foe  from  the  White  Oak  road.  The  Rebs 
drove  them  back.  Humph-rey  sent  Miles'  troops  to 
War-ren's  aid,  and  they  held  the  foe  in  check,  but  not 
till  they  had  sent  the  Fifth  corps  a  mile  back,  to  near  the 
Boyd-ton  road. 

It  was  all  at  an  end  by  noon,  and  the  men  went  to 
work  at  once  to  form  their  lines,  and  start  off  for  a  fresh 
fight.  Grif-fin  was  to  lead.  Humph-rey  to  take  from 
his  right  all  the  force  he  could  spare,  and  with  Miles, 
strike  the  foe  on  the  left. 

As  soon  as  Meade  made  known  this  plan  to  Grant, 
he  said   that   Humph-rey  should  not  push   to   the  front 


OUR  HERO .-— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRANT. 


U7 


with-out  a  lair  chance,  and  with  his  mind  made  up  to 
go  through. 

At  this  stage  of  the  war  it  would  not  do  to  fail. 

So  Meade  made  a  change  in  his  plan,  and  put  Miles 
at  the  head  of  all  the  troops  of  the  2  nd  corps,  which 
was  to  move  from  the  left  and  strike  on  the  flank  all  the 
troops  in  front  of  War-ren.  This  was  done,  and  the 
Rebs  fell  back. 

At  one  o'clock  Grant  went  out  to  the  front  to  see  how 
the  fight  went  on. 

In  the  mean-time  Lee  had  sent  out  Pick-ett  with  a 
strong  force  of  men  to  put  Sher-i-dan  to  rout,  and  on 
the  31st  of  March  they  were  on  the  road  to  the  Court- 
house. At  the  same  time  Sher-i-dan  set  out  with  Mer- 
ritt's  and  Crook's  horse-men.  Cus-ter  was  left  at  the 
rear  to  guard  the  roads  and  the  trains  that  led  to  where 
Meade  was. 

For  quite  a  space  in  front  of  the  Court-house  the 
ground  is  high  and  clear,  and  then  slopes  down  to  the 
Cham-ber-lain,  a  small  creek  on  the  west,  the  banks 
of  which  are  lined  with  thick  woods.  It  was  here  the 
Rebs  made  their  first  at-tack.  Pick-ett  and  his  horse- 
men charge — they  cross  the  creek — but  are  met  by  so 
strong  ;i  foe  that  they  have  to  turn  back  with  great  loss. 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  U.    S.   GRANT. 


In  the  mean-time  Mer-ritt  had  drawn  near  to  Five 
Forks.  It  would  soon  have  been  in  his  hands.  But  a 
strong  force  of  the  Rebs  came  up  and  drove  him  back. 
He  had  to  form  a  line  west  of  the  Five  Forks  road,  with 
his  rear  to  the  Boyd-ton  plank-road,  and  his  left  close  to 
Crook's  corps.  Part  of  the  Fifth  corps  was  two  and  a 
half  miles  north  of  Din-wid-die,  and  would  come  up  in 
time  of  need. 

Pick-ett  moved  to  a  point  on  the  White  Oak  road, 
struck  the  troops  on  the  left  of  Mer-ritt,  and  cut  oft 
Da-vies  and  Mer-ritt  from  the  mam  line.  Sher-i-dan 
at  once  sent  word  to  these  two  men  to  move  with  their 
troops  to  the  Boyd-ton  road,  march  down  to  Din-wid- 
die  and  join  the  line  there. 

The  Rebs  thought  by  this  move  that  they  had  put 
the  Yanks  to  rout,  so  made  a  left  wheel  and  gave  chase 
at  once.  This  put  their  own  rear  to  Sher-i-dans  main 
line  north  of  Din-wid-die.  Sher-i-dan  was  quick  to  see 
his  chance,  and  set  Gibbes  and  Gregg  on  the  track  of 
the  foe. 

As  the  Rebs  went  through  the  woods  to  catch  Mer- 
ritt,  they  had  to  wheel  to  get  on  the  Boyd-ton  road. 
Gibbes  struck  them  on  flank  and  rear,  while  Gregg 
came  up  with  all  speed  from  Cham-ber-lain    creek   by  a 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


wood  road,  and  came  in  on  the  left  and  the  rear  of 
foe.     This  made  Pick-ett's  men  face  the  rear  rank,  ana 
give  up  the  chase  for  Mer-ntt,  which  would  have  brought 
them  on  the  flank  and  rear  of  War-ren's  troops. 

Now  the  whole  force  of  the  Rebs,  on  foot  and  on 
horse,  turn  on  the  horse-men  led  by  Sher-i-dan,  and 
drive  them  back  to  the  main  line  in  front  of  Din-wid- 
die.  Mer-ritt  and  Da-vies  reach  the  Court-house  too 
late  to  be  of  much  use. 

Sher-i-dan  sent  word  to  Grant  that  the  force  in  his 
front  was  too  strong"  for  him.  Grant  at  once  sent  troops 
to  his  aid,  and  not  much  rest  did  he  take  that  night  in 
his  camp-bed  at  Dab-ney's  saw-mill. 

Lee  told  Pick-ett  to  hold  Five  Forks,  and  the  Rebs 
ran  their  line  out  for  at  least  two  miles  on  the  White 
Oak  road. 

Sher-i-dan  had  a  new  scheme  in  his  mind.  It  was 
one  of  the  tricks  of  war.  War-ren,  who  led  the  Fifth 
corps,  was  to  start  out  on  the  Five  Forks  road  in  the 
rear  of  the  horse-men,  turn  to  the  right,  and  take  a  stand 
near  the  White  Oak  road,  in  front  of  the  left  flank  of  the 
foe.  He  was  to  strike  the  foe  with  his  men  on  the  left, 
then  make  a  left  wheel,  and  close  in  the  whole  flank  of 
the  foe  with  the  rest  of   his  corps. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRAXT. 


Sher-i-dan  next  told  Mer-ritt  to  make  a  move,  as  if  he 
meant  to  turn  the  right  of  the  foe,  while  the  Fifth  corps 
struck  them  on  the  left. 


> 


i 


CHARGE    AT    FIVE    FORKS. 


It  was  late  in  the  day  when  the  fight  took  place.  The 
Fifth  corps  took  the  lead,  with  Ayres  on  the  left,  Craw- 
ford on  the  right,  and  Grif-fin  in  the  rear.  Through 
mud  and  through  brakes  they  tramp  till  they  reach  the 
broad  plain.  Sher-i-dan  with  his  staff  rode  in  the  front 
line.  Ayres'  troops  fell  in  with  the  Rebs  ere  they  had 
got  as  far  as  the  White  Oak  road.  They  were  in  a 
piece  of  woods,  and  it  was  hard  for  them  to  change  front 
so  as  to  meet  the  fire  of  the  foe.      The  lines  broke  ;   some 


OCA'  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.   s.   GRAM. 


<»t  the  men  fled  to  the  rear,  but  when  Sher-i-dan  rode 
uj>  with  words  oi  cheer  most  oi  them  came  hack  at  once 
in-to  line. 

Mean-time  the  fire  oi  Ayres'  corps  was  heard  by 
Mer-ritt,  and  the  horse-men  at  once  made  their  charge. 
These  had  to  hear  the  brunt  of  the  fight,  as  they  were 
well  to  the  front  on  the  mam  hue  Forks  road.  There 
was  one  point  on  this  road  that  both  sides  fought  to 
gain.  It  Ayres  could  get  there  he  could  rake  with  shot 
the  whole  length  ot  the  \\  hite  Oak  road. 

Craw-ford  and  Grif-fin  had  got  so  tar  out  oi  line  that 
they  could  not  help  Ayres  at  all,  and  his  troops  were  in 
a  tight  place.  The  breast-work  oi  the  Rebs  was  both 
strong  and  long,  and  hid  by  a  dense  growth  oi  low  pines. 

Sher-i-dan  bids  the  bands  play.  1  [e  takes  the  flag 
in  hi>  <»\\n  hands,  and  leads  the  charge  at  the  head 
ol  the  lm<-.  With  a  rush  And  a  sweep  Ayres  troops 
crowd  on  the  (lank  ol  the  foe,  drive  them  back  with 
the  points  oi  their  guns,  break  up  their  lines,  and 
seize  a  large  l< >r<  e  < »l   men. 

Grif-fin,  who  bv  thi^  time  finds  he  is  not  in  the  right 
pla<  <•.  brings  ln^  troops  up  <>n  a  run,  comes  in  on  the 
right  <>t  Ayres  in  time  to  seize  a  large  force  ol  the  Rebs. 
(  raw-ford    is   brought    round    t<>    the    Ford    road.      llis 


OCR  HERO  .—  GENERAL   U.   S.    OR  A  XT. 


sJiiJkij 


A;      I,    A 


1'RIS   ONERS    CAP-TIR-ED    AT    FIVE    FORKS. 


troops  face  the  south,  and  the  Rebs  in  their  flight  rush, 
as  it  were,  m-to  the  arms  of  the  boys  in  blue. 

Thus  the  works  in  front  fell  in  the  hands  of  Mer-ritt's 
men,  who  fought  on  foot  and  on  horse-back,  and  with 
the  aid  of  the  rest  of  the  force  drove  the  Rebs  back  to 
the  Forks.  There  they  made  no  stand,  but  fled  down 
the  White  Oak  road.  Grif-fin  kept  on  their  track  till 
night  came  on,  and  they  were  then  six  miles  from  where 
the  fight  took  place. 

The  rain  had  ceased  but  the  night  was  dark.  Grant 
sat  out-side  of  his  tent.  Two  or  three  of  his  staff  stood 
near  the  camp-fire  in  the  wet  woods.  Two  had  been 
with   Sher-i-d'an  all  day   to  bring  back  the  news.     The 


OUR  HERO 


tEXERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


■ 

y  ,        ■     ■ 


, 


H 


cheers  of  the  troops 
were  heard.  No  need 
to  tell  what  the}'  meant. 
Five  Forks  was  won  ! 

The  one  who  brought 
the  good  news  to  Grant 
was  Col-o-nel  [Ker-ncl) 


or-ace   Por-ter.       He 


R, 


;i<  w  i    w  wr  ixo   for   news 


came  up  in  such  a 
wild  state  of  joy,  and 
did  such  queer  things 
that  some  of  the  men 
thought  he  had  had  a 
drop  too  much.  But  he  was  not  drunk  with  wine.  It 
is  said  that  his  mate — the  one  who  had  gone  with  him 
to  the  front — was  not  a  bit  more  calm.  Fie  had  been 
shot  in  the  foot  at  some  time,  and  wore  a  steel  boot 
on  that  foot.  When  he  had  the  word  to  mount  and 
ride  to  the  front,  he  put  the  steel  boot  on  the  leg  that 
was  not  hurt.  It  was  not  strange  that  such  news  should 
turn  the  brain. 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER    XV, 


ON      TO       RICHMOND. 

When  Grant  had  heard  the  news  from  Five  Forks 
he  went  in  his  tent,  and  wrote  a  note  to  Meade,  to  uree 
him  to  move  at  once  lest  Lee  should  leave  Pe-ters-buro- 
and  press  hard  on  Sher-i-dan. 

"Wright  and  Parke  should  both  be  sent  out  to  feel 
for  a  chance  to  get  through  Lees  line  at  once,  and  if 
they  can  get  through  should  push  on  to-night? 

No  time  to  rest  now.      Push — push — push — was  the 


PUSH  — PISH   -Pl'SH — WAS    THE    WORD 


word  sent  to  Sher-i-dan  and  Ord.  "  I  would  fix  twelve 
to-night,"  he  said;  "but  the  troops  could  not  be  got  in 
line  at  that  hour." 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.  S.   GRANT.  145 

The  at-tack  was  made  at  dawn  on  the  2  nd  of  A-pril. 
It  is  still  so  dark  that  the  men  can  just  see  where  to 
step.  Not  a  word  is  said  as  they  move  on  through  the 
mud.  Here  and  there,  at  the  head  of  the  line,  may  he 
seen  a  man  with  an  axe  to  cut  down  the  trees  that 
screen  the  earth-works  of  the  foe.  The  first  of  these 
out-works  soon  falls  in  the  hands  of  Wright.  The  fight 
is  sharp,  but  brief,  and  the  boys  in  blue  can-not  be  held 
in  check.  They  reach  the  Boyd-ton  road  and  the 
South-side  rail-way,  break  up  the  rails,  and  cut  the  wires 
from  the  poles.  As  soon  as  he  can,  Wright  forms  his 
troops  in  line  once  more  and  moves  down  to  Hatch-er's 
Run.  Here  they  have  a  brush  with  the  foe,  whom  they 
soon  put  to  rout. 

Parke  set  out  by  the  Je-ru-sa-lem  plank  road,  at  the 
end  of  which  the  Rebs  had  a  strong  earth-work.  A 
large  force  join  Parke  at  this  point  and  they  push  on 
through  shot  and  shell,  in  close  ranks,  take  the  fort  by 
storm,  and  turn  its  guns  on  the  foe. 

It  was  now  day-light.  The  loss  on  both  sides  had 
been  great.  The  fort  was  a  strong  one,  and  the  Rebs 
fought  hard  to  keep  hold  of  it.  But  in-side  of  it  was 
a  long  chain  of  works  that  Grant  would  have  to  take 
ere    he    could    reach    Pc-ters-bur<>".       He    felt    sure    that 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAX.L 


the  rest  could  do  as  well  as  Parke  and  Wright  had 
done. 

In  an  hour  or  two  word  came  from  Ord,  "We  have 
the  forts  next  to  Hatch-er's  Run  on  both  sides." 

Grant  at  once  made  up  his  mind  to  face  the  whole 
force  of  Meade  and  Ord  to  the  east  and  hem  in  Peters- 
burg. He  rode  down  to  the  right  and  told  his  plan  to 
Meade.  Then  he  rode  up  on  some  high  ground  from 
whence  he  could  look  on  the  field  of  bat-tie.     The  point 


GRANT    ON    THE    HILL, 


was  less  than  a  mile  from  the  mam  line  of  Lee's  troops, 
and  not  three  miles  from  the  heart  of  Pe-ters-burg. 
Here  he  gpt  off  his  horse,  and  sat  down  on  the  ground 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U,   S.   GRANT. 


H7 


near  a    farm-house   to   wait  for  the  word   that   Meade, 
Sher-i-dan,  or  Ord  might  send. 

The  Rebs  turned  their  guns  on  the  group,  and  the 
place  was  soon  quite  hot.  Grant  sat  with  his  back  to  a 
tree,  while  the  shot  fell  round  him  thick  and  fast. 

His  aides-de-camp,  who  are  in  dread  lest  he  should 
lose  his  life,  urge  him  to  leave  the  spot.  He  looks  up 
with  an  odd  smile,  and  says,  "Well,  the  Rebs  do  seem 
to  have  the  range  of  this  place.  I  guess  we  might  as 
well  leave,"  and  soon  Grant  and  his  staff  ride  oft  at  a 
quick  pace,  and  out  of  harm's  way. 

All  that  day  the  fight  was  kept  up,  and  one  by  one 
the  works  round  Pe-ters-burg  fell  in  the  hands  of  Grant's 
men.      Forts  Gregg  and  Bald-win  held  out  till  the  last. 

If  the  blue-coats 
take  them  at  all, 
they  must  take 
them  by  storm. 
At  one  o'clock 
in  the  day  Ord's 
men  charge  on 
the  fort.  The 
Rebs  fight  well, 
wag-on  train.  a ii c  1    more     than 


J        I 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAXT. 


once  drive  back  the  boys  in  blue.  At  last  they  reach  the 
wall,  and  for  half  an  hour  a  hand-to-hand  fight  is  kept 
up ;  some  of  the  men  use  their  guns  as  clubs.  At  the 
end  of  that  time  the  Stars  and  Stripes  float  from  the  top 
of  Fort  Gregg.  Those  in  Fort  Bald-win  make  haste  to 
flee,  but  the  blue-coats  turn  the  Qams  of  Fort  Greo-o-  on 
them  and  force  them  to  sur-ren-der. 

When  night  fell  on  the  2  nd  of  A-pril,  Lee  still  held 
the  line  south  of  the  Ap-po-mat-tox.  Pick-ett  and  Bush- 
rod  Johns-ton  were  on  the  way  to  A-me-li-a  Court-house. 
They  had  to  cross  the  stream  where  they  could  find  a 
bridge  or  a  ford.  The  men  were  worn  out.  Thev  had 
had  a  long  fast.  Now  and  then  they  had  to  halt  for 
rest.  Some  were  so  weak  that  they  fell  by  the  wav-side, 
but  all  were  in  hopes  to  reach  A-me-li-a  Court-house,  and 
find  there  the  food  of  which  they  were  so  much  in  need. 

It  was  a  sad  night- march.  There  were  no  lines  for 
them  to  hold,  no  earth -works  lor  them  to  guard.  Lee 
had  left  Pe-ters-burg! 

By  dawn  ol  the  next  day,  Grants  men  were  on  his 
track;   not  in  the  rear,  but  to  head  him  off. 

No  news  had  as  yet  come  from  Rich-mond.  Were 
the  Rebs  there  ?  Would  they  try  to  hold  it  ?  Grant 
rode  out  in  front  of  Ord's  line,  and  on  the  way  a  note 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT. 


149 


was  put  in  his  hands  from  Weit-zel.  It  said,  "  Rich- 
mond is  ours.  The  Rebs  left  in  great  haste,  and  set  the 
town  on  fire." 

Swift  ofoes  the  word  through  the  lines :  "  Rich-mond 
is  ours!      Rich-mond  is  ours!" 

"Ah,  is  it!"  say  the  troops  ;  "well  we  must  make  haste 
to  catch  Lee." 

Oh,  what  a  m<dit  that  was  in  Rich-mond  !  Crowds 
were  in  all  the  streets.  Men  mad  with  rage  or  rum  set 
fire  to  mills,  stores,  and  work-shops.  The  guards  of  the 
jails  fled  from  their  posts,  and  men  who  had  been  shut 
up  for  their  crimes  were  free  to  rob,  or  burn,  or  do  what 
harm  thev  would.  Shouts,  yells,  and  cries  were  heard  on 
all  sides,  and  now  and  then  there  was  a  great  shock  from 

the     rams    and     <nin- 


T-NION    TKOMI'>     IN -UK    INI,     UK  II    MUM) 


boats  that  were  blown 
up  so  that thev  might 
not  fall  in  the  hands 
of   the  North. 

Thus  Rich-mond 
fell.  A  New  York 
boy  was  the  first  to 
raise  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  and  by  night 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  V.    S.   GRANT. 


mob-rule  was  at  an  end,  the  fires  were  put  out,  and   the 
bush  of  peace  came  to  heal  the  blows  of  sound. 

Mean-while  Grant  had  gone  on  with  the  head  of 
Ord's  line,  and  by  six  o'clock  was  at  a  point  half  way 
twixt  Not-ta-wav  Court-house  and  Burks-ville.  He 
gave  the  road  to  the  troops,  as  was  his  wont,  and  rode 
with  his  staff  in  a  piece  of  woods,  when  a  man  in  the 
dress  of  a  Reb  was  brought  up  to  him.  One  of  Grant's 
staff  knew  him  at  once  as  a  scout  of  Sher-i-dan's.  The 
man  took  from  his  mouth  a  quid  of  to-bac-co  in  which 
was  a  small  pill  of  tin-foil.      In  this  pill  was  a  note  from 

Am  at  Je-ters-ville.  Wish 
you  were  here.  I 
see  no  chance  for 
Lee  to  get  out." 
Grant  got  on  a 
'■■-  fresh  horse,  and  set 
out  at  once  with  a 
score  of  men,  some 
of  whom  were  on 
his  staff,  to  meet 
Sher-i-dan.  None  but  the  scout  knew  the  way.  The 
men  were  not  sure  thev  could  trust  him.  Soon  night 
came    on.      The    ride  was   long,   the   roads  were    rough, 


Sher-i-dan,    who    wrote 


FEED-IXG    THE    HUN-GRY. 


OCR  HERO  .—GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAXT. 


and  there  were  dense  woods  to  go  through.  Grant  rode 
at  the  head  of  the  small  band,  each  one  of  whom  was 
sworn  to  take  care  of  his  chief.  \\  hat  a  prize  he  would 
be  to  fall  in-to  the  hands  oi  the  foe!  Sharp  eyes  peer  to 
right  and  left.  An  aide-de-camp  keeps  a  watch  on  the 
scout,  who  proves  to  be  a  good  and  true  man,  for  at  the 
end  of  a  four  hours'  ride  Grant  and  his  staff  come  on 
Sher-i-dans  out-posts.  These  men  doubt  the  truth  of 
what  is  told  them.  It  could  not  be  that  Grant — the 
Gen-er-al-m-chicf  —  would  ride  at  night,  and  with  so 
few  men,  so  close  to  the  lines  of  the  foe.  But  they  find 
it  is  so,  and  then  let  them  pass  the  guards,  and  haste 
to  Sher-i-dans  camp. 


- 

?     ,  i. 


1 52  OUR  HERO  .-— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

"let     us     have     peace." 

We  left  Lee  on  his  way  to  A-me-li-a  Court-house, 
where  he  was  in  hopes  to  find  food,  and  from  there 
make  his  way  to  Johns -ton.  But  when  he  came  to 
A-me-li-a  he  found  no  food,  and  so  set  out  at  once  for 
Lynch-burg.  His  men  had  had  no  food  for  two  days. 
To  fight  by  day  and  march  by  night  was  too  much  for 
them  in  their  weak  state,  and  some  of  those  who  had 
been  the  most  brave  threw  down  their  arms,  and  left 
the  ranks. 

Still  a  great  host  press  on,  and  reach  Sail-or's  creek 
on  the  6th  of  A-pnl.  There  they  find  Sher-i-dan  in 
front  of  them.  The  troops  halt  and  form  in  line,  while 
the  big  guns  and  wains  pass  on  to  cross  the  Ap-po-mat- 
tox  at  Farm-ville. 

But  Grant  had  sent  Ord  to  burn  the  bridge  at  Farm- 
ville,  which  was  a  small  town  north-west  ot  Burks-ville. 
The  South-side  rail-road  crossed  the  Ap-po-mat-tox 
twice  near  this  place;  first  at  High  Bridge,  five  miles 
east  of  the  town,  and  then  at  Farm-ville.      And  you  had- 


r'rW  , 


OUR  HERO :— GENERAL  V.   S.   GRANT. 


^-c 


I  HE     111  KN-INC     BRIDGE, 


to  cross  the  Ap-po- 
mat-tox  in  the  town 
to  get  on  the  road 
to  Lynch-burg. 

1  he  stream  was 
too  deep  to  ford,  and 
blue-coats  and  gray- 
coats  head  at  once 
for  Farm-ville. 
Ord  had  sent  Gen-er-al  The-o-dore  Read,  his  chief 
of  staff,  to  lead  the  horse-men  to  High  Bridge,  which 
they  were  to  burn.  But  on  the  way  they  fell  in  with 
Lee's  troop  of  horse,  and  the  two  bands  had  a  fierce 
fight.  Read  got  his  death-wound — so  did  Wash-burne 
— and  at  last  there  was  no  one  to  lead  the  men,  and  they 
had  to  give  up  and  hand  their  swords  to  the  foe.  The 
hard  fight  at  this  point  made  Lee  think  that  a  large 
force  of  blue-coats  had  struck  the  head  of  his  line,  so  he 
had  tins  part  of  his  troops  halt,  and  throw  up  earth- 
works, and  make  the  place  as  strong  as  they  could. 

I  his  gave  Sher-i-dan  time  to  come  up  with  Lees  men 
who  were  on  the  Dea-tons-ville  road. 

Grant  staid  in  Je-ters-ville,  to  be  as  near  as  he  could 
to  all   the  lines  of    Ins  troops  which  were  sent  out  from 


j  54  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.GRANT. 


that  point.  From  a  hill-top  he  could  see  all  that  took 
place  on  both  sides. 

Crook  was  sent  to  flank  the  train  at  Dea-tons-ville. 
Mer-ntt  was  to  pass  to  the  left,  and  both  were  to  press 
in  on  the  foe  till  they  struck  a  weak  point.  Stagg  led  a 
troop  of  horse-men  and  made  a  charge  on  Lee's  lines, 
while  Mil-ler's  big  guns,  from  a  crest  at  the  rear  sent 
shells  in  the  breast-works  of  the  foe,  and  set  fire  to  the 
trains. 

Then  the  Sixth  corps  came  up  and  Wright  drove  the 
Rebs  for  two  miles,  through  a  thick  swamp,  and  back  as 
far  as  Sail-or's  creek.  They  were  shut  in  on  all  sides. 
There  was  nought  to  do  but  yield.  From  the  hill-sides 
in  the  rear  Mer-ntt  and  Crook  with  their  brave  horse- 
men, swept  through  the  pine-trees  like  a  whirl-wind. 
The  Rebs  fought  hard  on  all  sides,  and  at  last  threw 
down  their  arms,  and  brought  the  fight  to  a  close. 

At  dawn  on  the  7th  of  A-pril,  Ord  found  that  the 
Rebs  had  left  his  front,  and  were  on  their  way  to  Farm- 
ville.  He  at  once  put  his  troops  in  line  of  march  and 
came  up  on  Lee's  flank  and  rear  just  as  he  got  m-to  the 
town.  So  Lee  had  no  chance  to  stop,  but  sent  the 
wains  by  rail  to  Ap-po-mat-tox,  while  he  and  his  troops 
took  the  road  on  the  north  bank. 


OCR  HERO  .-—GENERAL   l'.   S.   GRANT. 


But  Grant  was  at  his  heels.  Ere  day-light  Sher-i-dan 
had  set  out  from  Sail-or's  creek,  and  was  soon  on  the 
road  to  Prince  Edward. 

Hufnph-reys  came  up  with  the  rear  of  the  foe  at 
High  Bridge,  which  he  found  had  been  set  on  fire. 
The  gray-coats  tried  to  hold  it  till  it  was  quite  burnt  up, 
but  at  last  were  put  to  flight,  and  the  rail-road  bridge 
was  saved  with  the  loss  of  but  four  spans. 

Sharp  fights  took  place  here  and  there  on  the  road, 
for  when  gray  met  blue  there  was  sure  to  be  a  flash 
of  fire.  More  than  once  the  boys  in  gray,  though  well 
spent,  drove  back  the  boys  in  blue  from  some  point  they 
had  set  out  to  gain.  At  night  the  Rebs  had  been 
chased  for  miles  on  the  banks  of  the  Ap-po-mat-tox,  and 
were  made  to  cross  the  stream  in  such  haste  that  they 
had  no  chance  to  more  than  half  burn  the  bridge,  and 
had  to  leave  quite  a  lot  of  their  big  guns. 

I  he  van-guard  of  both  Humph-reys  and  Crook  came 
up  with  the  Rebs  north  of  the  stream.  At  the  south, 
Sher-i-dan,  with  Gnl-fin  and  Ord,  spread  out  his  troops 
on  both  sides,  like  two  great  wings,  to  check  Lee's  flight. 
Lynch-burg  was  Lees  last  hope. 

In  the  last  days  of  March,  Stone-man  had  set  out 
from   east    I  en-nes-see,  and  was  at  this  time  on    his  way 


1 56  OUR  HERO  .■— GENERAL  U.  S.   GRANT. 

to  the  rail-road  west  of  Lynch-burg.  He  was  not  quite 
to  the  town,  but  was  so  near  that  there  was  no  chance 
for  Lee  to  get  out  of  the  net  in  which  he  was  caught. 

On  the  night  of  the  7th  of  April,  Grant  came  to 
Farm-ville,  and  slept  at  the  same  inn  where  Lee  had 
slept  on  the  night  of  the  6th.  All  night  long  the  Sixth 
corps  went  through  Farm-ville  on  the  track  of  Lee. 
Camp  fires  were  in  the  streets,  and  out  on  the  hills  and 
fields.  The  folks  who  dwelt  in  this  small  town  were 
in  a  great  state  of  fright.  War  had  come  right  to  their 
doors.  The  noise,  the  glare,  the  flash  of  arms,  were 
sights  and  sounds  quite  new  to  them. 

Grant  came  out  on  the  porch  of  the  inn  to  see  the 
Sixth  Corps  march  by.  The  night  was  quite  dark, 
but  the  camp  fires  threw  their  gleams  on  his  face, 
and  the  troops  saw  it  was  their  chief  who  stood  there. 
Their  shouts  rang  through   the  air. 

Grant  stood  still  till  the  last  of  the  troops  went  by, 
then  went  in  and  wrote  a  note  to  Robert  E.  Lee.  He 
told  him  that  it  was  his  wish  to  shed  no  more  blood,  and 
that  Lee  must  see  that  it  was  best  for  the  South  to  end 
the  strife  here  and  now. 

Lee's  own  men — those  who  had  the  right  to  speak  to 
him  in  this  way — had  urged  him  to  sur-ren-der.      But  he 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   V.   S.   GRANT. 


could  not  bear  to  do 
it.  "  The  time  is 
not  yet  come,"  he 
said.  But  he  wrote 
\  to  Grant,  to  say  that 
he  did  not  think  he 
was  in  such  a  strait 
as  Grant  made  out, 
and  to  ask  what  the 
terms  would  be  if  he 
made  up  his  mind  to 
end  the  strife,  and 
give  up  his  sword. 
This  note  came  to  Grant  on  the  eighth  of  A-pril, 
while  he  was  still  at  Farm-ville,  and  he  at  once  sent 
back  word  to  Lee  that  his  one  great  wish  was  for  peace. 
The  terms  were  that  the  whole  army  of  North-ern  Yir- 
gin-i-a  should  lay  down  their  arms,  and  serve  the  Stars 
and  Stripes. 

In  the  mean-time  the  Rebs  kept  up  their  flight,  with 
Grants  men  in  hot  chase.  Grant  set  out  to  join  Sher-i- 
dan.  Worn  out  with  loss  of  sleep,  and  the  weight  of 
care  that  was  on  his  mind,  he  fell  ill  and  had  to  halt  at  a 
farm-house  on  the  road,  where  he  spent  most  of    the  day. 


THE    FLAG    OF   TRUCE. 


i58 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


CA  VAI.-RV    PUR-SU-ING    GEX-ER-\L    LEES    AR-MY. 


Near  mid-night,  while  still  in  great  pain,  a  note  came 
to  him  from  Lee,  who  said  that  he  did  not  think  the 
time  had  come  for  him  to  lay  down  his  arms,  but  as 
peace  should  be  the  aim  of  all,  it  was  his  wish  to  know 
if  Grant's  terms  would  lead  to  that  end.  That  he  would 
meet  him  at  10  a.m.,  the  next  day,  on  the  old  stage-road 
to  Rich-mond,  not  to  sur-ren-der  the  whole  ar-my,  but  to 
find  out  his  terms  for  the  force  that  he  had  led  out  of 
Rich-mond  and  that  were  still  slaves  of  his  will. 

This  note  was  not  quite  as  frank  as  the  first  one  had 
been.  Grant  wrote  back  that  his  wish  was  for  peace. 
"  The  terms  on  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  un-der- 
stood.  Let  the  South  lay  down  their  arms.  This 
would   save  life,  and   bring  the  war  at  once  to  an  end." 


OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAM'. 


'59 


He  then  set  out  to  join  Sher-i-dan,  and  speed  that 
which  he  knew  must  soon  come  to  pass.  For  when  a 
man  asks  for  terms  it  is  a  sign  that  he  is  weak,  and  can- 
not hold  out. 

Ord's  men  marched  from  day-light  on  the  8th,  to  day- 
light on  the  9th.  Gnf-fin  did  as  well  as  Ord.  The 
troops  found  no  fault. 

"Theirs  but  to  do  and  die" 

Lee's  troops  soon  came  up  to  where  Sher-i-dan 
stood  in  wait  for  them.  Thev  must  make  their  way 
through  now,  or  all  is  lost.  Lee's  troops  are  on  foot. 
There  are  far  more  of  them  than  Sher-i-dan  has,  and 
the}'  make  one  bold  push  for  the  goal  they  hope  to 
reach.  1  hey  give  the  well-known  yell.  They  start  on 
a  run.  More  fierce  is  the  fire  of  their  guns.  Sher-i- 
dan's  horse-men  fall  back.  Lee's  troops  pass  on  ?  No. 
It  was  but  a  ruse,  a  trick  on  the  part  of  the  boys  in 
blue.  Out  of  the  woods,  down  from  the  hill-sides,  in 
front,  in  rear,  on  the  right,  and  on  the  left,  the  blue- 
coats  come,  and  close  in  round  the  poor  boys  in  gray. 
It  is  their  hour  of  doom. 

Sher-i-dan  was  on  their  left.  The  word  "charge!" 
was  on  his  lips,  when  lo !  a  white  Mag  was  seen.  The 
man   who    bore  it  came    from    Lee,   who    was   at   Ap-po- 


i6o  OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.    S.   GRANT. 


mat-tox  Court-house.  Sher-i-dan  rode  at  once  to  the 
Court-house  and  there  met  Gen-er-als  Gor-don  and 
Wil-cox,  who  told  him  that  Lee  had  sent  to  Grant  for 
terms  of  peace.  He  thought  it  strange,  if  this  were 
so,  that  Lee  should  make  the  at-tack  on  his  lines.  If  he 
had  sent  to  Grant  he  had  no  riQ-ht  to  fight  Sher-i-dan. 
But  Gor-don  said  it  was  true,  that  Lee  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  yield,  and  strife  must  cease  till  word  came  from 
Grant. 

Lee's  note  of  the  9th  of  A-pril  did  not  reach  Grant 
till  near  noon.  In  it  he  said  he  would  meet  Grant  on 
his  own  terms.  Grant  had  left  the  Rich-mond  and 
Lynch-burg  roads,  and  was  on  the  Farm-ville  and 
Lynch-burg  road — four  miles  west  of  Walk-er's  church. 
He  wrote   to    Lee   that  he  would    push   to  the  front  to 

meet  him  at  the  place 
Lee  might  choose. 

This  note  from 
Grant  was  put  in 
the  hands  of  Col-o- 
nel  Bab-cock,  one  of 
his  staff,  who  at  once 
set  forth  with  it,  rode 
past  the    out -guards 


STACK-ING    ARMS. 


■ 

JM1 


OUR  HERO  .—GENERAL  U.   S.   GRANT. 


161 


of  the  foe,  and  was  led  by  one  of  Lee's  men  up  to  the 
great  chief. 

He  and  his  staff  sat  by  the  road-side  in  the  shade 
of  a  large  tree,  but  as  soon  as  Lee  read  the  note  he 
sprang  on  his  horse  and  set  out  to  find  a  place  where  he 
and  Grant  could  meet  and  fix  the  terms  of  peace.  He 
rode  as  far  as  the  small  town  of  Ap-po-mat-tox,  and 
made  choice  of  a  house  where  dwelt  a  man  by  the  name 
of   McLean. 

The  troops  in  blue  and  gray  were  drawn  up  at  the 
foot   of   a   ridge,   on    each   side  of    Ap-po-mat-tox  which 

was  on  a  knoll,  ami 
could  be  seen  for 
miles.  The  Mc- 
Lean house  was  a 
plain  farm-house, 
with  a  ]  torch  in 
front.  The  two 
chiefs  met,  shook 
on-  the  way  mom,..  hands,      and      then 

went   in    the  small    room  at  the  side  of  the  hall.      Some 
of  Grant's  staff  went  with  them. 

Lee  was  in  full  dress,  and  wore  at  his  side  a  fine 
sword,  the  afift,   it  was  said,    of  the  State  of    \  ir-gin-i-a, 


-    i 


T62 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL    V.    S.  GRANT. 


while  Grant,  and  those  who  were  with  him,  were  in  plain 
clothes — full  of  stains,  and  much  worn.  Some  of  them 
had  slept  in  their  boots  for  days,  and  Grant  did  not  have 
his  sword  with  him.      One  ol  the  men  made  bold  to  ask 


THE    MARCH    ON    PENN-SYL-VA-NI-A    AV-E-Nl'E. 


Mar-shall  (Lee's  aide-de-camp)  how  it  came  that  he  and 
his  chief  were  dressed  up  so  fine,  and  he  said  that  when 
Sher-i-dan  came  on  them  they  found  they  had  time  to 
save  but  one  suit  of  clothes,  so  each  man  took  the  best 
he  had. 

Lee  told  Grant  that  he  had  sent  for  him  that  he  might 
know  on  what  terms  peace  could  be  had.  Grant  made 
no  change  in  the  terms,  and  Lee  must  have  known  that 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAXT. 


l"3 


he    would    not.      "Write    them    out,"    he    said    to    Grant, 
"and  I  will  sign  them." 

So  Grant  sat  down  to  write  them  out,  and  as  he  wrote 
he  gave  a  glance  at  Lee  and  saw  the  bright  sword  that 
was  at  his  side.  That  made  him  change  his  mind.  Lee 
and  his  star!  were  brave  men.  The}'  had  fought  well. 
Grant  knew  how  it  must  hurt  their  pride  to  bend  their 
knees  to  him.  He  would  be  as  kind  as  he  could.  They 
should  keep  their  swords. 

The  terms  were  drawn 
up.  Lee  signed  them. 
The  two  chiefs  shook 
hands,  and  then  rode 
oft.  As  Lee  rides  down 
his  lines  the  men  rush 
up  in  crowds  to  their 
chief.  Each  one  strives 
to  touch  his  hand. 
Tears  stream  down  his 
cheeks  as  he  savs  to 
them,  "  I  have  done 
what  I  think  is  best  for 
you.  My  heart  is  too 
full  to  speak,  but  I  wish  you  all  health  and  joy." 


i*4  OUR  HERO  .-— GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAXT. 

So  the  war  was  at  an  end.  When  it  first  broke  out 
it  was  thought  that  it  would  not  last  more  than  a  few 
months,  but  it  had  gone  on  for  four  long  years,  and  had 
cost  oh  !  more  than  words  or  tongue  can  tell.  And 
oh,  how  sweet  it  was  to  be  at  peace  once  more  !  No 
North,  no  South,  but  one  great  na-tion  ;  and  one  flag — 
the  same  old  flag — to  wave  o'er  us  all ! 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE       LAST       FIGHT       OF       ALL. 

There  was  one  way  in  which  we  could  pay  in  part 
the  debt  which  we  owed  to  Grant.  This  was  to  make 
him  chief  of  the  land,  in  Lin-coln's  place.  It  was  on  the 
9th  of  A-pnl,  1865,  that  Grant  and  Lee  met  at  Ap-po- 
mat-tox  Court-house.  Five  days  from  that  time  Lin- 
coln was  shot,  at  a  play-house,  by  J.  Wilkes  Booth. 
An-drew  John-son  had  to  act  as  chief  till  his  term  was 
out.  Then  Grant  took  his  place.  The  North  votes  for 
him    as    one    man.      There   is   no    one    so   great   as    he. 


OUR  HERO  :— GENERAL  U.   S.   GRAXT.  165 


With  U.  S.  Grant   at   the   helm   there  will   he   peace  for 
us,  and  for  the  whole  U-ni-ted  States. 

Grant  serves  for  eight  years,  and  at  the  end  of  that 
time  goes  back  to  the  home-life  and  the  home-wavs  of 
which  he  is  so  fond. 

He  has  made  hosts  of  friends  through-out  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land. 

A  score  of  years  goes  by,  and  then  comes  sad  news. 
A  foe  draws  near  that  Grant  can-not  bring  to  terms. 
The  name  of  this  foe  is  Death.     Pain  is  his  aide-de-camp. 

For  long  days  and  weeks  the  strife  goes  on.  Then 
hope  springs  up.  There  is  a  chance  that  he  may  live 
for  some  years  vet.  But  it  is  a  false  hope.  The  bright 
flash  of  a  flame  that  ere  long  will  go  out. 

Grant  is  calm  and  brave.  He  has  a  strong  will. 
There  is  some  work  he  must  do  for  those  he  loves.  So 
in  spite  of  pain,  and  the  loss  of  sleep,  he  writes  the  book 
that  tells  of  his  own  life.  Kind  friends — the  best  of 
rare — and  his  own  strong  will — keep  death  at  bay.  All 
is  done  that  can  be  done  to  ease  his  pain. 

Late  in  the  Spring  of  1885  the  sick  man  is  borne 
•  ait  of  New  York,  and  up  to  Mount  Mac-greg-or — near 
Sar-a-to-ga — where  the  air  is  pure  and  fresh,  and  there 
is  no  noise  to  jar  on  the  nerves. 


166  OUR  HERO  .— GENERAL   U.   S.    GRANT. 

Here  the  strife  goes  on.  As  the  warm  days  come  on 
he  sits  out  on  the  porch,  and  lists  to  the  songs  of  the 
birds,  and  the  voice  of  the  wind  through  the  trees. 

What  a  strange  hie  for  one  who  led  troops  to  war, 
and  went  through  blood,  fire,  and  smoke  to  save  the 
land,  and  the  flag  so  dear  to  him  !  At  the  end  of  eight 
months  of  pain,  that  but  few  brave  men  could  have 
borne  so  well,  peace  comes  to  Gen-er-al  Grant.  No 
more  strife,  no  more  pain,  no  more  heart-ache  for  him. 
He  is  at  rest. 

Great  grief  is  felt  all  through  the  land.  The  streets 
of  all  the  great  towns  are  draped  with  black. 

Crowds  go  to  see  where  the  dead  man  lies  in  state. 
For  three  davs  they  pass  in  a  line  —  at  times  eight 
blocks  long — that  has  no  break  till  night  sets  in,  and 
the  doors  are  shut.  Rich  and  poor  join  hands.  North 
and  South  are  one  in  this  sad  hour. 

Grant  died  on  the  8th  of  Ju-lv.  The  last  sad  rites 
took  place  on  the  8th  of  Au-gust.  Those  who  had  been 
his  foes  when  the  North  and  South  were  at  war,  met  as 
one,  and  took  part  in  the  march  to  the  tomb,  where  the 
great  man  was  to  be  laid.  No  such  sight  had  been  seen 
in  New  York.      It  was  as  if  a  king  were  borne  through 


i >UR  HERO  :— (GENERAL   U.   S.   GRAXT. 


the  streets;  but  lew  kings  could  have  had  such  a  hold 
on  men's  hearts. 

Grant  won  a  great  name,  and  great  fame  ;  but  that 
which  gave  him  the  most  joy  was  that  he  had,  by  God's 
help,  brought  peace  to  those  who  were  at  strife. 

L -Ivs-ses  S.  Grant  was  great  in  his  life,  and  great  in 
his  death  ;  and  for  years  to  come  men  from  all  parts  of 
the  world  will  flock  to  his  tomb  and  tell  of  the  great 
deeds  he  did,  and  the  way  in  which  he  wound  up  the 
war. 

The  key-note  of  his  hie  was  "do  right  and  fear  not;'' 
and  from  his  grave  he  seems  to  say  to  one  and  all 

"LET    US    HAVE    PEACE.'' 


